OFFICIAL
SELECTION: Vienna Film Festival, Berlin Film Market, Los
Angeles Independent Film Festival, NYC Independent Film
Festival,
SF Indiefest, Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival.
Thirteen-year-old Tessa (Jessica White) faces a lot more
that the usual problems of adolescence. When her mom is
unable to make rent on her cashier’s paycheck, they
are unceremoniously evicted and forced to live on the streets.
Santa Barbara’s gorgeous homes and expansive vistas
add a painful contrast to the emotional and physical struggles
they have to face. Tessa, humiliated by her homelessness,
must lie to be accepted by her new school friends- children
from wealthy parents, assured of their luxurious life. The
resilient mother-daughter bond is profoundly touching but
slowly begins to unravel as they are tested by issues of
trust and danger. Director Peter Hyoguchi presents a unique,
unsettling and sometimes shocking portrait of hard times
and cruel circumstances, seen through the eyes of a young
girl.
