MIFF: PASA FAHO

A shoe salesman struggles to save his small business and pass on his values to his son in this quintessentially Melbourne tale of life in a migrant community.

Running a shoe store for 20 years in suburban Melbourne, Azubuike has a financially constrained but fulfilling life. When his 12-year-old son, Obinna, arrives from interstate – where he has been living with his white mum and doing his best to suppress the things that mark him out as different at school – Azubuike is keen to teach him business, Igbo cultural traditions and what it means, in his view, to be a man. But disaster strikes when Azubuike receives an eviction notice at his shop; and his despair turns to fury when the buyer turns out to be a respected member of his own community. Desperate to retain his livelihood and not lose his son’s respect, Azubuike must find a way to keep all the pieces of his life together.

Starring beloved Nigerian stand-up comedian Okey Bakassi and impressive young actor Tyson Palmer as father and son, Kalu Oji’s MIFF Premiere Fund–supported feature debut is a down-to-earth, moving and gently funny portrait of suburban African-Australian life. It’s a vibrant tribute to the city of Melbourne, to a cinematically underrepresented local community and to how, no matter where we’re from, we all ultimately constitute parts of a whole.