Paper Daughter

Joy is an immigrant entering the US under an assumed identity, known as a “Paper Daughter.” During her journey from China, Joy studies all the facts about her assumed identity – a deceased girl named Mae. As Joy memorizes each fact, she tears the information from a booklet and adds it to a paper mask recreating Mae’s face. The mask transforms her into Mae. Joy arrives on Angel Island – a bleak stronghold in the San Francisco Bay where immigrants are detained and questioned. Soldiers scrutinize each passenger’s identity papers. Joy makes it through, and is sent to the Barracks to await her official interrogation.

In the Barracks, Joy discovers poems carved into the wooden walls. They speak of the hopes, fears and heartbreak of the immigrants who came before. As Joy sleeps, she dreams about Mae. Joy awakens to soldiers ordering her to report to her Interrogation. In the Interrogation room, the soldiers bark rapidfire questions. She struggles to answer, and her mask begins to deteriorate back into paper strips until the ghost of Mae appears and whispers answers in Joy’s ear. They become one voice and answer in unison, passing the interrogation.

Joy leaves Angel Island, approved immigration papers in hand, heading for San Francisco. Joy’s mask unravels, the paper reforming into the ghost of Mae. Joy thanks Mae, and Mae tells her to live for both of them. Mae dissolves back into paper, flying into the wind, and both she and Joy approach newfound freedom.

Film Content Advisory: Grief, Guilt, Immigration, Death, 

Credits
Writer: Cami Kwan
Producer: Brandon Diep Bui
Executive Producer: Julia S. Gouw, Janet Yang, Michelle K. Sugihara, David Beazley, Maximilian Lopez
Director of Photography: Warren Sheetz
Editor: Sean Malony, Janet Lee
Production Designer: Kenny Leoncito, Joyce Lee
Composer: Valeri Ortiz
Sound Designer: Ryan Meadows
Music: FAME’s Project Orchestra
Story Artist: David Trumble

Plays in

CAN I BORROW A FEELING?

Six films told with unapologetic sincerity that invite you to share a laugh, shed a tear, or even get a little angry.