With one film left to go, I can say that my favorite film I saw this year was "Resident Aliens." It was a film I could connect to, even If I've never been through a similar experience. The stories of the main characters were very interesting. It really makes you reflect upon your own life and wonder are you living up to your potential.
ABOUT THE FILM:
n 2002, the United States began deporting former Cambodian refugees with criminal offenses, even those who had arrived as children or infants following the Cambodian genocide. RESIDENT ALIEN follows three such “returnees” as they adapt to an unfamiliar homeland after nearly a lifetime spent in the States; largely shunned by Cambodian society, with few skills and little money, they now must find a way to survive, or end up on the streets.
China vacillates between accepting that she’ll spend the rest of her life in Cambodia and shock that she’ll never again set foot in the United States. Her boyfriend Looney admits that he’s unhappy in their relationship, but is also completely dependent on her financially. The heart of the film, however, is KK, a breakdancer from Long Beach who struggles to show his family back home that he has changed for the better. Forced to leave his own young son in the States, he becomes a teacher and surrogate father to a breakdancing troupe of poor children in Cambodia (the Tiny Toones), with hope that it will save them from a life of poverty, and ultimately help him find his own path to redemption.
Ellen Park
In Attendance: Ross Tuttle (Director)
CREDITS
Director: Ross Tuttle
Producer: Ross Tuttle
Cinematographer: Ross Tuttle
Writer: Ross Tuttle
Editor: Ross Tuttle
