My Small Land(HKAFF 2022)

Among the G7 nations, Japan accepts the fewest number of refugees. Many displaced people live under restrictions, waiting years for the government to decide their fate. This is the vulnerable situation facing Sarya, the 17-year Kurdish heroine of this empathetic feature directorial debut by Emma Kawawada, a member of Hirokazu Koreeda’s production company. Fleeing to Japan as a small child with her parents, Sarya has only known Japan as her home even though her appearance makes her an outsider. When her father’s asylum application is denied, the normal teenage life she desperately wants moves increasingly out of reach, her tribulations brought vividly to the screen through Kurdish-Japanese model-turned-actor Lina Arashi.