Filmmaker Statement

Too Japanese to be Brazilian; too Brazilian to be Japanese. The search for an identity that fits into this sort of interplace became the most solid part of who I am. At the same time, Erika reminds me of my teenage self: lost in the traditions of her own home; strangely a foreigner to her own country. "AMARELA" is an open scar of the Japanese-Brazilian people living in the country with the largest Japanese community outside of Japan, but speaks to the heart of those who were never allowed to belong. After all, who are we, the children of global diasporas? Erika’s story is an unsettling dance between her roots and her reality. Inhabiting an invisible border between two cultures, she faces the silent pressures of her parents, the bullying of her friends, and the sexism that permeates both cultures. Erika is a dormant volcano. When she finally reacts, she unveils a secret and violent desire that most Japanese-Brazilians once dreamt of.