As Meredith Hama-Brown91裸聊视频檚 debut feature film 91裸聊视频淪eagrass91裸聊视频� made waves during its festival run last fall, the Vancouver writer-director says she heard from many Japanese Canadians who thanked her for exploring a side of their experience rarely depicted on screen.

Ally Maki stars as Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman grieving the recent loss of her mother and struggling with her cultural identity as she brings her family to a couples91裸聊视频� therapy retreat on a British Columbia island. The film tackles mixed-race relationship conflicts, intergenerational trauma, casual racism and young sibling dynamics.

91裸聊视频淭here are a lot of details in the film that I91裸聊视频檝e seen in my own family and that other people have told me that they91裸聊视频檝e also experienced, particularly how Judith has lost touch with a lot of her own personal history and her family history,91裸聊视频� Hama-Brown, whose mother is Japanese Canadian, says on a video call from Vancouver.

Like Judith, Hama-Brown says there are gaps in what she knows about the experiences of her grandparents, who were among more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians forced into internment camps by the federal government during the Second World War.

91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 something that91裸聊视频檚 very common for Japanese Canadians and Americans, because my grandparents91裸聊视频� generation really didn91裸聊视频檛 want to talk about what happened. I think it was such a traumatic experience and they just wanted to move past it.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淪eagrass,91裸聊视频� which hits theatres across North America on Friday, is a tense and tangled family drama charting the ups and downs of an interracial marriage on the verge of collapse.

Set in the 1990s, the film sees Judith91裸聊视频檚 marriage to her white Canadian husband Steve, played by Luke Roberts, fall apart as they struggle to connect at group therapy sessions for couples, while their children explore the island91裸聊视频檚 verdant landscape. Along the way, they become frenemies with a seemingly more functional couple, played by Chris Pang and Sarah Gadon.

Earlier this month, 91裸聊视频淪eagrass91裸聊视频� was named best B.C. film at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards, where Hama-Brown also won the best director prize. Last year, it made Toronto International Film Festival91裸聊视频檚 Canada91裸聊视频檚 Top Ten list and took home the International Film Critics Prize at the fest.

Hama-Brown, who grew up in the 91裸聊视频�90s, mines some of her own experiences in the film, similar to the way her award-winning short 91裸聊视频淏roken Bunny91裸聊视频� dealt with themes of shattered childhood innocence. But she stresses that the plot is very much fictional.

91裸聊视频淢y family never went to this retreat altogether, and although my parents are divorced, I never saw them argue. They had a polar opposite divorce. My dad is the polar opposite of Steve.91裸聊视频�

Steve comes off as culturally insensitive and poorly equipped to deal with Judith91裸聊视频檚 intergenerational trauma. At one point, he makes a racist joke about Pang91裸聊视频檚 character, a Chinese Australian.

Hama-Brown says such microaggressions were a product of the era 91裸聊视频淪eagrass91裸聊视频� takes place in.

91裸聊视频淚n the 91裸聊视频�90s, no one really knew how to say, 91裸聊视频楾hat91裸聊视频檚 racist or that doesn91裸聊视频檛 feel right.91裸聊视频� Or when people tried, it would be disregarded as a joke. It91裸聊视频檚 been really good exploring that type of racism in a film, because I think it can be extremely insidious and it91裸聊视频檚 something that is still so prevalent.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淪eagrass91裸聊视频� is also a coming-of-age story as the couple91裸聊视频檚 children Stephanie and Emmy, played by Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Nyha Huang Breitkreuz and Victoria91裸聊视频檚 Remy Marthaller, experience the fallout of their family crumbling.

Hama-Brown says the team found the pair of young actors through a 91裸聊视频渧ery laborious casting process91裸聊视频� in which they 91裸聊视频渨rote to every single kids91裸聊视频� acting school in Canada.91裸聊视频� Breitkreuz91裸聊视频檚 audition tape came in a week and a half before they started shooting. The film marks both actors91裸聊视频� first major roles in a movie.

91裸聊视频淭hank goodness everything came together because it91裸聊视频檚 very challenging casting kids and finding people who can carry these really challenging roles. They have mature themes, but there91裸聊视频檚 also a ton of dialogue.91裸聊视频�

Just as challenging to scout out were the film91裸聊视频檚 locations. Finding a retreat for a month during the summer of 2022 was nearly impossible as they were all booked up, but Hama-Brown and cinematographer Norm Li discovered one on Gabriola Island called The Haven. Group therapy sessions are actually held there in real life, although Hama-Brown jokes 91裸聊视频渢hey91裸聊视频檙e probably much better than the ones portrayed in the film.91裸聊视频�

When Emmy is shown an oceanside cave that other children tell her is haunted, she becomes obsessed with it, convinced the ghost of her recently deceased grandmother is living there.

Hama-Brown says the cave, located at Tofino91裸聊视频檚 Rosie Bay, was not only hard to find but 91裸聊视频渆xceptionally difficult91裸聊视频� to film in.

91裸聊视频淲hen the tide comes in, you will get trapped, so we only had three hours to work in the cave when we were there. Plus, we had a whole bunch of kids who we were bringing there and some gear that we had to walk in. It was something I was just terrified about doing until we got to it.91裸聊视频�

In the end, the scenes were well worth it. Hama-Brown says the tidal, seaweed-draped setting was integral to the film.

91裸聊视频淭he sense of place meant a lot to me. It91裸聊视频檚 the fact that the family is going to this remote island. I wanted to have the sense of being away and surrounded by water and almost trapped. I wanted there to be this sense of isolation.91裸聊视频�

READ ALSO: