Rent I'm Not Here

Synopsis

A young, second-generation immigrant wanders through her city and memories, encountering the world through a camera's lens, her independence pulled by the gravity of familial responsibility. She drifts until she encounters what could possibly be her potential self.

This is a subtle, beautifully drawn work that recalls the cerebral, humanist science fiction of filmmakers such as Chris Marker and Miranda July mixed with the generational themes and unwavering hand of Yasujiro Ozu. GG's comics recall films in more than theme alone: her drawings, with their deep chiaroscuro and subtitle-like use of text, appear to be stills pulled from an enchanting and mysterious foreign film.

GG lives and works in the small Canadian prairie city where she grew up during the 1980s. In this pre-Internet era, isolated geographically and culturally, drawing and making up stories was the means to connect to something more. It was romantic and lonely. In 2016 she was included in The Best American Comics, edited by Roz Chast.

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