French-Sri Lankan director Lawrence Valin offers up a gripping coming-of-age crime romance by immersing us in the gritty Tamil underworld of iconic Paris, France. Valin skillfully performs  double-duty in this film, acting and directing with aplomb. In the role of the character Aathi — an enforcer for the mob — he must confront his allegiance to his mob boss when he falls in love with a trafficked woman, Minale, who is under the boss’s control.

The film contrasts the vulnerability of Minnale against the indifference of the enforcer Aathi, offering a complex portrait of displacement and its violence. While their shared loss of culture and homeland has the capacity to bring them together, their vastly different positions of power creates a chasm between them. Does loyalty matter more to Aathi than the cost of human life? Will Minnale gain her freedom from her enforced obligations, and will Aathi gain his humanity and give up his life as a callous trafficker? Experience this cinematic tour-de-force from a fresh new voice from the South Asian diaspora.

Includes a post-screening discussion with director Lawrence Valin