Nom Tèw (2009)
There are only nine films in Letterboxd's entire catalogue for Dominica. Nine. And apparently Nom Tèw is the most popular of the lot. That, more than anything else I could tell you, sets the scene for what kind of watch this is.
I've been working my way through national filmographies as part of a geographic challenge, which is how I end up in places like this. I'd already ticked off Uncivilized, the second most popular Dominican film, so that left me browsing what remained. What remained was a seven-minute short directed by Pierre Deschamps that picked up Best Short Film at the International Forest Film Festival, Best Editing at Silafest, and a special mention for cinematography at the Barbados Film Festival. A little haul of festival recognition, fair play. But awards don't always translate to a gripping watch, and this is very much a case in point.
The entire film is a guy walking around in the forest. He goes about his daily life. Then, right at the end, he offers a tiny bit of advice. That is it. That is the whole thing. No real narrative, no character development, no stakes. Just a bloke wandering through the trees for seven minutes. I get that the intention is meditative, a slice-of-life piece that lets you breathe in the natural world and slow down a bit. But when there is genuinely nothing happening on screen, it is very hard to stay engaged, no matter how tranquil the setting is supposed to feel. At a certain point, peaceful tips over into empty.
And look, I will give it this: it is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The cinematography captures the lush, dense greenery of the Dominican forest with a real eye for natural light, and you can see exactly why it earned that special mention in Barbados. The editing is clean and unhurried. The whole thing is put together with obvious care. But looking pretty is not enough to carry a film, and it is especially not enough when the film is only seven minutes long and still somehow manages to feel thin. It is less a piece of cinema and more a high-quality screensaver. A visual poem, maybe, if you are feeling generous. A nothing piece of cinema, if you are being honest with yourself.
It reminded me a little of the documentary work I have seen come out of small island communities, where the landscape does a lot of the heavy lifting because the resources to build a fuller story simply are not there. I found something similar watching Island Soldier (2017), which at least had an emotional anchor to hang everything on. Here, there is no such anchor. The forest looks wonderful. The man walks. The man talks briefly. Credits.
Two stars feels about right. Nom Tèw is a visually pleasing but hollow experience, clearly made with genuine care for the Dominican landscape and a real technical competence behind the camera. But as storytelling, there is just not enough meat on the bone. If you are doing a geographic challenge and you need to tick off Dominica, this will do the job. Go in with appropriately modest expectations and you will not feel cheated. Go in hoping to be moved or entertained, and you will be checking the runtime inside the first two minutes.
Two stars.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 2009 | Watched: 2026-06-08
