Abstract:

"Overstay, a feature-length documentary, is a timely and intimate exploration of the lives of foreign migrant workers in Japan. Four sets of young people from Iran, Pakistan, Peru, and the Philippines tell their unique stories--why they came to Japan and how they have adjusted to an unusually insular and traditional society. The filmmakers had an extraordinary degree of access to the workers' lives: Overstay follows migrants at work and at play, trying to make a new life while homesick for a familiar culture. More than 10 years have passed since the first waves of international migrants arrived in Japan. There are frequent immigration raids. Many workers have no papers or have overstayed their visas. Japanese attitudes toward foreign workers range from suspicion to resentment to support. Jobs have grown tighter. How do immigrants survive? Overstay probes the legal, cultural, racial, and class biases that these new residents struggle to overcome. Viewers are challenged to question and rethink their preconceptions about the nature of international migration and the social and economic factors that propel young people to move far from home, often leaving spouses and children to seek work in foreign countries. Stylistically Overstay combines beautifully composed 16mm imagery with intimate Hi-8 video footage, emphasizing the contrast between the formalized issues and the lived reality."