What does your childhood smell like?

What would it mean if you were ripped away from those memories, never able to access them again?

A filmmaker returns to her homeland of Cyprus after learning about a never-before-seen archive of a buried female resistance movement that fought the division of the island. The film retraces the forgotten history of Women Walk Home - a grassroots, non-aligned movement where women from all backgrounds united to demand their fundamental rights - to return to their homes. Through her family members that participated, the rich unearthed and restored archives as well as the organizers of the movement, we witness these women’s sacrifice and determination as well as their ability to embody this loss of home. The filmmaker journeys through their pain, finally connecting to a loss she never understood. The film highlights key global issues, including military occupation, refugees' right to return, the long-term, generational impact of forced displacement, and transnational citizen mobilization.

In the summer of 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus and gained control of the northern part of the island. A U.N. buffer zone was drawn which divided the island into two and the population was forcibly separated. Two hundred thousand people became refugees in their own country out of a 638.000 population. The invasion by Turkey was condemned by the U.N. and the international community. The U.N. swiftly passed many resolutions calling for the return of the refugees to their homes. They were never enforced.

Cypriot women took it into their own hands and created the Women Walk Home movement. Formed as a global, anti-occupation movement, the Cypriot women wanted the return of the refugees to their homes. In 1975, they were joined by women workers and intellectuals from around the world and a record 30.000 marched toward the U.N. buffer zone to demand the immediate application of the U.N. resolutions

After their inability to convince the U.N. or the Turkish forces to let them through, the movement paused until 1987. Women Walk Home re-emerged and organized five more marches, facing intense opposition, including sexist mockery and sabotage. Despite this, they skillfully used the media to gain international attention, raising awareness of the Cyprus problem through films and campaigns. They lobbied the European Parliament and U.K. Parliament for the rights of the refugees to return to their homes and wrote to U.S. lawmakers. After years of activism, the movement disbanded in 1989.

In modern day, Stephanie discovers this buried movement through her mother, aunt and grandmother. Their participation connects her to them on a deeper level and sets her off on a mission to understand why it was buried within them for so long and so many women across the island kept this silent for so long. Through this multi-year journey she discovers connection with the elders of the movement, their personal and familial sacrifices, how they were raised under different times that enabled them to act towards injustice. She reflects and challenges her own education, how a scarred people failed to transfer the magnitude of loss experienced. She finally, as an adult, understands this loss through the women's words and their embodiment of its pain. Through this journey, Stephanie reclaims her ancestry; the seas her parents swam in, the olives they harvested, their yearly pilgrimage.

At the heart, we continually return to the personal stakes embedded within a geopolitical story—the human need for belonging, continuity, security, community, home and the comforts of ancestral ground.

The film’s narrative interlaces the Women Walk Home movement’s journey with the filmmaker’s using archival footage, landscape cinematography and verité scenes with the organizers.