Homestay (2007)

Homestay is a documentary that has the look and feel of a dramatic narrative. The fictional structure is used as a means to set-up the real experiences of the film's two protagonists: Skeena Reece and Yasuki Mukai. Tokyo comedy school graduate Yasuki Mukai leaves his moribund post-school life for his first taste of the world outside Japan. In Vancouver, Tsimshian performance artist Skeena Reece plots a passive summer income by applying as a billet for a Japanese/Canadian homestay program. Upon Yasuki's arrival, Skeena's impromptu accommodation plans are dashed as her step dad (played by Gary Farmer) explains that he's expecting a romantic guest. Lacking a plan B, Skeena decides to embark on a journey to her ancestral lands, dragging Yasuki along with her. Homestay is a gothic take on the road and buddy movie genres, traversing the lines of fiction and documentary while exploring cultural exchange through compromised circumstance.