The film is written and directed by Ela Their, who also has a major role in the movie. It is apparently a true story based on her experiences when she was 12 years old, after she and her family emigrated to the United states from Israel, in the early 1980's.
Noa Rotstein portrays Ellie, who as mentioned above has come to the United States, from Israel, with her parents and her younger brother. They have settled in Connecticut where Ellie will attend 6th grade although she barely speaks any English.
She feels very isolated, as a result of the language barrier and must contend with one mean girl in particular who asks her one day if "all girls in Israel are ugly". While beginning to learn English both inside and outside school she continues to correspond with her best friend Shlomit, who is still in Israel. These letters can be quite delightful and humorous.
Eating alone in school every day she sees another girl, who's in her class, but is also very isolated and quiet. She gets up enough courage to introduce herself to her and finds out her name is Thuy. Thuy, who is portrayed by Dalena Le, had emigrated to America with her family two years before, from Vietnam, and has learned a great deal of English since then.
The film centers on the relationship between Ellie and Thuy as they become best of friends. There are many touching, funny, and enjoyable scenes between the two but since they are hesitant about many aspects of their friendship some scenes can be difficult to watch as they are marked by painful and awkward silences. The two disparate cultures they come from has a lot to do with this.
Finally, there is friction between the two friends and a break-up. Will they be able to reconcile? I'll leave that to the viewer. Let's just say there is a powerful message to be told about friendship in the film.
The actual photos of the two girls in the 1980's then their reunions some 30 years later were also striking and greatly enhanced the film.
Noa Rotstein portrays Ellie, who as mentioned above has come to the United States, from Israel, with her parents and her younger brother. They have settled in Connecticut where Ellie will attend 6th grade although she barely speaks any English.
She feels very isolated, as a result of the language barrier and must contend with one mean girl in particular who asks her one day if "all girls in Israel are ugly". While beginning to learn English both inside and outside school she continues to correspond with her best friend Shlomit, who is still in Israel. These letters can be quite delightful and humorous.
Eating alone in school every day she sees another girl, who's in her class, but is also very isolated and quiet. She gets up enough courage to introduce herself to her and finds out her name is Thuy. Thuy, who is portrayed by Dalena Le, had emigrated to America with her family two years before, from Vietnam, and has learned a great deal of English since then.
The film centers on the relationship between Ellie and Thuy as they become best of friends. There are many touching, funny, and enjoyable scenes between the two but since they are hesitant about many aspects of their friendship some scenes can be difficult to watch as they are marked by painful and awkward silences. The two disparate cultures they come from has a lot to do with this.
Finally, there is friction between the two friends and a break-up. Will they be able to reconcile? I'll leave that to the viewer. Let's just say there is a powerful message to be told about friendship in the film.
The actual photos of the two girls in the 1980's then their reunions some 30 years later were also striking and greatly enhanced the film.
