In the long shadow of the 8888 Uprising that rocked Myanmar three decades ago, a Burmese family who immigrated to Japan without a visa debate if or when to return home. Issace and Khine are parents to seven-year-old Kaung and four-year-old Htet. As their children wrestle with their Burmese roots despite living in Tokyo their entire lives, Issace and Khine try to obtain official refugee status while working in restaurants, quarrelling and battling depression. Inspired by a true story, this film is a collaboration between its Japanese director and a Burmese family, their plight just one of the many struggles facing Burmese refugees in a country experiencing intense pressure to open up to this increasingly global world.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
