Ilo Ilo (2014): Friends of the Library International Film Festival

Set in Singapore during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Ilo Ilo chronicles the day to day drama of the Lin family, which includes troublesome school boy Jiale and his overstressed parents, Heck and Leng. Comfortably middle class and with another baby on the way, they hire Teresa, a Filipino immigrant, as a live in maid and nanny. An outsider, Teresa struggles to manage Jiale’s antics and find her footing in her new community. The two eventually form a strong bond, but just as Teresa becomes an unspoken part of the family, unforeseen circumstances in an uncertain economy will challenge the new normal yet again.