Filmmaker Statement

"Daly City" is an autobiographical story that draws from my experiences growing up as an Indonesian immigrant in the Bay Area. There is a sense of urgency for me to tell this story now. We are living in a moment of self-examination for the AANHPI community, and in recent years there has been much discourse about the idea of the "model minority myth,” a seemingly positive but damaging stereotype that exotifies Asian immigrants and attempts to define our sense of worth. While this issue has historically been addressed in documentaries, it's rarely explored in fiction. In telling this story as a narrative film, I want the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the cost of assimilation, as told through the perspective of a young Indonesian-American boy straddling both cultures. For me, this story is about inspiring a new generation of immigrants so that we can both understand our parents' sacrifices in becoming the model minority and also transcend them.