Ella is a 28-year-old anthropologist in Manila who has long lived in the shadow of her estranged photographer father and his second family in Japan. When she is called to Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture to attend his funeral and settle his will, she encounters her Japanese half-sister, an art student named Reina. While Ella wrestles with resentment she learns that Reina labours under a grief more profound than she imagined.


Writer/director Jaime PACENA II draws upon his long artistic connections with Japan and Rikuzentakata for this beautifully shot and sincere family drama where he skilfully interweaves Ella and Reina’s travels in its post-2011 earthquake and tsunami recovery landscape with their emotional journey, showing images of rebuilding, the bonds of family and community and moving forward from trauma through art.