(gentle piano music) (ominous piano music) - [Voiceover] I could walk forever and never find what I'm looking for.

Where are you?

I long for something that I cannot seem to find, so I keep walking and walking and walking.

And as I walk down Lake Street, I see the rubble, the ash, the sparks of unrest, the buildings, the concrete, the street lights.

And if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine what it once looked like.

(sighs heavily) And then it's gone.

I try to think about the concrete crumbling beneath my feet and buildings fading in the breeze.

I can picture it.

The leaves fluttering in the wind, the soil beneath my feet.

This was once unstolen land, untouched by capitalism and colonization, the first of many plagues among us.

My heart rate rises thinking about how the street once looked.

They tell me to just breathe.

Well, that's easy for you to say.

Just breathe.

Just breathe.

But how can I breathe when there's a virus in the air, when there's smog in the air, when the sea is rising, and when capitalistic notions have a hold on my intentions, causing my depression, the oppression.

With the revolution pounding at my doorsteps, I say, without justice, there can be no peace.

But now I have this mask on my face.

I'm stuck in my apartment with these four walls and this concrete floor.

Always concrete.

And my body and mind screaming for soil and sun.

But is it safe?

Are any of us safe?

With that skin color, you're not safe.

I'm not safe.

Who is safe?

Sometimes I imagine what would happen if I laid down in the soil and just let roots start to grow.

Ferns sprouting from my knees, leaves reaching around my hair, vines stretching across my arms.

And just as we start and end life, I am once again with the land.

What would happen if the concrete below us just started to crumble away, exposing what is really below, exposing the systems that bind us, revealing the pain and trauma?

Sometimes I just wanna scream, "Why won't you apologize for what you've done?"

I crumble, my knees hit the concrete, the blood pounding in my ears, the blood that carries my DNA, the DNA of ancestors before me.

I don't just carry their trauma.

I must remember I carry their resiliency, too.

Their fight, their drive to survive.

Resiliency is also inherited.

And they've tried to make me forget, make me forget the ones out there who are still missing, the ones they've buried six feet under the ground.

They drained our valleys, relocated our homes, cut our hair.

They have tried to take every part of us that makes us who we are.

But they will never succeed.

We are persistent.

Resiliency runs through our veins.

We have been pushed down for too long.

This is where it stops.

So I take a breath.

(inhales) I stand up, I wipe the dust off, and I march on for those who can no longer march.

(ominous music) (ominous music) (film reel spools) (steam hissing) - (speaking in Hindi) - It's so good.

- Next time I'm going to teach you how to make it.

- No way.

- Seher, (speaking Hindi).

(phone pings) I started cooking when I was 11.

(speaking in Hindi) Seher.

(voiceover singing in Hindi) (voiceover singing in Hindi) (upbeat music) - Papa?

Papa.

(voiceover speaking in Hindi) Look.

- That's awesome, good job!

- Stop.

- Okay, how do you wanna celebrate?

Okay, you keep thinking.

Let me go show them.

Look at this.

- Wow, Seher, congrats!

- [Seher] Thank you, uncle.

- [Uncle] A boarding school, eh?

- Aha, New Mexico.

I mean, the house will be empty and we'll miss her, but she has to go do what she wants to.

- [Uncle] Yeah, you know what?

- Hmm?

- I have an idea.

Let Ma move here.

We can move her this weekend itself.

As such, she does not have much stuff.

- What stuff?

- [Papa] Uh.... (speaking in Hindi) - [Seher] Hey, mom.

- (speaking Hindi) - (speaking Hindi) - [Seher] Mommy.

- [Papa] Ma, don't talk like that.

Seher is going to be gone.

Come and spend some time with her.

- [Seher] It finally came, I got in!

- [Mom] I've got work in the kitchen.

- [Uncle] Seher, when are you leaving?

- August.

(water running, dishes clinking) (speaking in Hindi) - You had to go tell your uncle first, is it?

You will not be able to handle it, Seher.

Here, I cook for you, I clean your room, I do your laundry, I help you with your homework.

- [Seher] Nobody asked you to help me with my homework.

- I have a thankless job.

Your grandmother's tea, take it to her.

(Papa and uncle conversing) - (speaking Hindi) They think I don't know anything.

(speaking Hindi) - She said I can't go.

- (speaking Hindi) - It won't matter.

She's like a pressure cooker.

- (speaking Hindi) I know her.

- Seher!

- (speaking Hindi) - Seher.

(speaking Hindi) Come, help me set the table.

(speaking Hindi) - [Grandmother] (speaking Hindi) - (speaking Hindi) - (speaking Hindi) - Not these, take these.

What was she saying to you?

- Who?

- Tie your hair.

(speaking Hindi) - Nothing, why would you wanna know?

- Because the door was closed.

- Well, I didn't do it.

She must have.

- You see?

- (speaking Hindi) - Papa, Mummy says I can't go.

- (speaking Hindi) Of course, you and dad, you have it all figured out, don't you?

That you will leave and she will come stay with us.

You must be happy that she's gonna come here and sit on my head all day.

- (speaking Hindi) - Mind your language.

- Anger is always at the tip of your nose.

- Seher, go out.

- And don't forget I'm your mother.

Arnab, you don't know this woman like I do.

Whatever she does is on purpose just to irritate me.

- [Arnab] But why, (speaking in Hindi)?

- [Shobha] Go ask her.

Have you forgotten?

- [Arnab] (speaking in Hindi) It's been 15 years, Shobha.

Come on.

- Yeah, like that changes anything.

(door closes) I must have sinned in my past life.

(speaking in Hindi) (dishes clinking) - [Arnab] Guess who I saw?

Anjanima.

- [Uncle] Oh, nice.

- [Arnab] She's still teaching.

- [Uncle] Really?

- [Arnab] Mm, I saw her class.

- [Uncle] And then that watchman?

- Beramani, he's still there.

- He is?

He should be old.

- [Arnab] He's 60.

- [Uncle] Oh my God.

Where's Bartali?

- [Arnab] Barta, Barta's now into IT.

- Seher.

(speaking in Hindi) - Mummy.

(speaking in Hindi) (muffled conversation) - You go, I'll bring them.

- (speaking in Hindi) - Mummy-ji.

- (speaking in Hindi) - [Uncle] Shobha, food is fantastic.

Bhindi, you take it a different level.

Come and join us now, no?

- Ha, cooking is done, right?

Why don't you come sit with us?

- [Uncle] You're gonna miss this for sure, Seher.

Also, I saw Karmi.

- [Papa] You keep talking to all these people.

We need to have a reunion, right?

(muffled conversation) - Seher, be responsible.

- [Arnab] I'll walk you guys out.

(speaking in Hindi) (muffled conversation) (car doors close) (door closes) - Papa.

- [Arnab] Huh?

- Does she have to come?

- (speaking in Hindi) Now she will be coming.

(door slams) - Don't worry.

I know she'll come back.

(rhythmic Hindi music) (rhythmic Hindi music) (rhythmic Hindi music) (music stops) - Seher!

- What happened with Dadi back then?

- The pasta turn out okay?

- It was good.

- You know, sometimes I want to get away, too.

(film reel spools) (heavy breathing) (breathing rapidly) - [Voiceover] Action.

- This doesn't have to be so hard.

- I know, but you're giving me nothing to work with.

- You need to try harder.

He likes what I'm doing.

- Just because someone else likes what you're doing doesn't mean it's gonna work for everyone.

- I thought we were starting over.

- You know, I shouldn't have to do this much work after what you did.

I'm just trying to be honest.

- Stop, just make me believe that you actually care about me when we roll, even if you don't in real life.

And don't hate me.

- I can't hate you.

I want to connect with you.

But you need to connect with me too, though.

Especially now.

- And how would you like me to do that?

- Well, you could start by saying you're sorry.

- I already have.

- No, no, you haven't, not in a real way.

If this take doesn't go well, I'm leaving.

- Leaving the set?

What happens here has nothing to do with our lives outside of work.

- You out of anyone knows that's not true.

- [Voiceover] Are we ready to try this again?

- Yes, we're ready.

- [Voiceover] All right.

Let's do this one more time.

Hopefully, this will be the last time.

Improvise a first date.

(fast breathing) Improvise a breakup.

(fast breathing) Form a connection.

(fast breathing) Move into reality, if you have to.

I don't need to know what's part of the film and what's part of your lives.

What I need is more access, more truth.

Ready.

(deep sigh) And action.

- I'm a little nervous.

- Me, too.

It's been a while since I've done something like this.

- [Voiceover] Show me more nervous.

Neither of you is communicating that right now.

In your body, hold the tension in your body, not just in your face.

- What's your story?

- My story?

Oof, that's a, that's a tough question.

- [Person On Left] Too much to lead with, huh?

- Maybe a bit.

- Okay, now it's your turn.

- For what?

- To ask me a question, if you'd like.

- Okay.

- I'm really glad you asked me to do this.

I've been looking forward to it all week.

- [Voiceover] Work harder to make him like you.

- Just me?

- [Voiceover] Yes, you.

I don't know who either of you are yet.

You don't know who you are.

- I know who I am.

- No, you don't.

(stem snaps) - I'll ask a question, then.

- Go ahead.

- Nice weather.

- Yeah.

- [Voiceover] Yes, and?

- I, there aren't many places you can go with a conversation about the weather.

- I felt it was a good place to start.

- [Voiceover] Start somewhere else.

- Maybe it would help if he asked me a question.

- Okay, how are you today?

- I'm fine, thanks, how are you?

- [Voiceover] Fine, that's what you're going to give him?

- [Person On Left] Well, I can't give him anything when he can't offer me enough in the first place.

- [Voiceover] I don't believe he's not offering you enough.

Neither does he.

- I didn't say that.

I just don't know how to respond.

- Yes, you do.

You could apologize.

- [Voiceover] He doesn't want to.

(heavy breathing) (silence) - I'm still not sure what to do with all these flowers.

- [Voiceover] You can do whatever you want with them.

- Maybe we can start over, hmm?

I mean, do you think I would actually be here if I didn't wanna be with you?

Seems like these flowers are the only real things here, since you both reject everything I say that's true.

- [Voiceover] That's not true.

I just help you say real things so that they sound more believable.

You can't see yourself clearly, I can.

- [Person On Right] They're already dying.

- [Voiceover] What do you truly want to say to each other?

- Are you gonna leave me?

- I don't want to.

- [Voiceover] Do you really like each other?

- Yes.

- Yes.

- [Voiceover] Have you thought about leaving her?

- Maybe I hate you.

- You hate me?

- No, maybe.

- [Voiceover] Only say what you mean.

- I meant it some ways and not in others.

Maybe I'm just done.

- [Voiceover] I don't believe you.

- I don't care.

I don't care.

- Wait, I... - What?

- I'm sorry.

- Are you actually sorry?

- [Voiceover] No, no, he doesn't want you to respond that way.

Be more supportive, he's vulnerable.

- No, I need to know if he's actually sorry.

Otherwise we can't move on.

- I am, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

(deep sigh) - Let's start over.

- [Voiceover 2] Cut.

- So what now?

(fast, heavy breathing) - Thanks for your apology, but I think I need to go.

I'm done.

(film reel spools) (insect buzzing) - Maya!

Maya!

(helicopter whirs overhead) Maya!

(loud scraping) (soft flute music) (soft flute music) (soft flute music) (soft flute music) (music stops) (insects buzzing) (animal barks) (grass crackling underfoot) (fire crackling) - (speaking in Spanish) - Can people dream the same dream?

(fireworks exploding) - (speaking in Spanish) - [Maya] No.

- (speaking in Spanish) - [Maya] Si.

- (speaking in Spanish) (singing in Spanish) (fireworks exploding) (fireworks stop) (soft flute music) (soft flute music) (soft flute music) (music stops) (film reel spools) (baby crying) (match strikes) (reverberating gong resounds) (reverberating gong resounds) - [Voiceover] Wrangled from the body.

Severed yet tethered.

Mother.

All the ways you nurture ruptures.

Mending, shielding, feeding our ceaseless hungers.

(clock chimes) - [Mother] Okay, come here.

(child speaking) (singing in Vietnamese) Minutes, years, a box, mother.

Intrepid lantern glinting the way through choppy, uncharted waters.

(singing in Vietnamese) To let us lilac and bloom.

(singing in Vietnamese) Ample and boundless.

(singing in Vietnamese) A wellspring overflowing as we siphon exquisite nectar from the open wound of your being.

(singing in Vietnamese) Mother, fleeing the grips of imperial dominion only to arrive at cleaving.

You tend to a rootless garden to sow some semblance of belonging.

Here, where we're seen as perpetual outsiders.

- [Stranger] Hey honey, love me long time.

(bleep) you, why don't you go back to where you come from?

(door shuts) (child laughs) - [Radio Announcer] Frightening attack targeting an Asian American.

This one happening today in San Francisco.

A woman simply standing next to a lamppost with her small shopping cart when a man walked up and started hitting her in the face.

She's 70 years old.

She suffered a bruised face and a swollen eye.

But she fought back.

She fought back with a stick she carries for protection.

And it was her attacker who ended up being taken to the hospital, handcuffed to a stretcher.

- [Voiceover] "Go back to where you came from."

Oh, that tired saying.

In the annals of American fictions, it's often neglected how, Mother, you too were once an infant full of heat and wonder like coal infused with ancestral, astral, potential, sacred seed in the infinite parable of endings and beginnings.

Mother, you fuel our survival with vim and vigor, harboring us from forces that aim to fault and plunder.

(gentle music) (gentle music) Only hollow imaginations see a trail of corroded longings, not the distilled reveries of warrior, sister, aunt, teacher, artist, goddess, healer, daughter, shaman, elder, boss.

You bear the heft of this thankless crucible with grit and valor, and sometimes with your knotted fists.

Nevermind empires hackneyed tropes of mistress, masseuse, misfit, manicurist.

Nursed by wars, famines, unthinkable loss, and constant erasure.

Mother, you defy wrote definitions.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) Immigrant, refugee, launderer, seamstress, sex worker, Madam Butterfly, Miss Saigon.

You are more than the sum of your labor, greeting each day with endless grace and fervor.

Mother, we gather in your bountiful garden to water our budding tendrils.

To all our mothers, we thrive on the bones of your many sacrifices, feasting on the love and care you give without question.

(gentle music) Here at your precious table, dear mothers, we celebrate and honor your personal story because they are our own stories.

(gentle piano music) Sheltering our oceans and orchards deep within, forging them into pearls and what we call home.

(gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music) (film reel spools) (light music) - [Child] Mommy, more fries.

- No more fries, baby.

- More fries.

(light music) - Say thank you.

Say thank you, can you say thank you?

(soft music) We definitely need to get you a jacket.

I think winter's done, though.

I don't think it's gonna snow again.

But, in a few weeks, we won't even remember winter happened.

Claire's pretty neat.

Bunking with her should work until we find a better setup.

There's extra towels and some blankets in the linen closet if you need anything.

The heater works great.

Can get kind of cold at night, so you just jiggle the handle a bit.

Here's some some towels if you wanna get washed up.

Do you want something to change into?

We have tons of clothes.

Everything in this basket is clean.

You could... - Maybe Teddy has something, like some sweats.

- Yeah, of course.

(sighs deeply) (pensive music) (pensive music) (pensive music) (handle squeaks) (water runs) (pensive music) (pensive music) (pensive music) (pensive music) (pensive music) (pensive music) (door creaks) (child laughs) No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Sorry about that.

We're working on privacy.

Auntie needs privacy.

Real quick, it's Friday and we usually stream movies and order pizza.

Do you eat pizza?

- Huh?

- [Mother] Pizza, do you eat pizza?

- Yes, I eat pizza.

- Well, we usually get a supreme and a veggie for Claire.

She's a vegetarian, so.

But we, we could get, we could get anything.

I mean we, we could get something else if you'd like something else.

- No, that's fine, thanks.

(sighs heavily) (blow dryer whirring) - Where's my sister?

Ember!

Oh hey, buddy, come here.

Hey, buddy, go see mom.

There you go.

I wasn't actually at the game, but coach says she was a beast.

Look, I believe it, too.

She gets this look on her face, do the look.

- [Claire] I don't have a face.

- Do the look.

- He's really talking me up, it's not anything.

- [Ember] You have a look?

- [Teddy] I can see it from across the field.

- [Ember] I'm just playing the game.

- And then you plant right, go left, and then all of a sudden the girls up laying on the ground, holding onto her head.

- Well, okay- - [Mother] Honey, it's saying no signal.

- Yeah, I'll reset the modem.

- [Mother] Are the batteries dead?

- [Voiceover] It just worked, it worked just a second ago.

- [TV Reporter] For 48-year-old Ember Bearheart Johnson, today marks the end of a 16-year prison sentence for a crime her lawyers proved she didn't commit.

- I'm looking forward to putting this chapter behind me and reuniting with my family, especially my daughter.

- When Ember, her husband Max Johnson, and their infant daughter returned from a Wisconsin vacation back in 2001, the unthinkable happened.

As they were crossing the state line, they were stopped by police, taken into custody, and charged with armed robbery.

Receipts from their hotel, meals, passes to Wisconsin Dell's, and yes, even witnesses who were able to confirm that Bearheart Johnson and her husband were not at the scene of the crime were all withheld from defense attorneys and the jury that convicted her.

Sadly, her husband Max, who had a seizure disorder, died in prison before his conviction could be overturned.

Certainly a bittersweet day for Ember and her family.

Raven Brooks, Channel 4 Action News.

- You've got a lot of hair.

- You sound like grandma.

- I had a lot of hair when I was younger.

Grandma hated it.

It was too much for her to handle.

- When she died, I started growing it out 'cause she'd always cut it off.

Never thought it could grow past a Afro mullet mushroom situation.

- Yeah, I remember the last time you visited.

Oh, your hair was so short.

You looked like a boy.

I was sure you were gonna be a lesbian.

- Well, there is still time.

- If you were, I mean, it'd be, it would be totally be okay.

I mean, people are people.

(phone rings) - I'm pretty sure, I like guys.

What's up?

- Claire, what's up?

We're at Mike's house.

You should be here.

- I'm in for the night.

Hey, Kelly.

- Hey, are you coming or what?

- I can't tonight.

- Oh, what?

- Ask your mom.

Matter of fact, put your mom on the phone.

Let me talk to her, you know I can convince her.

- You can go, you can go with your friends, hi.

- Who is that?

(phone beeps off) - I'm gonna go take a shower.

(melancholy music) - Yeah, I'm trying to quit.

- Me, too.

- Hey, I'm sorry I couldn't get off today.

The court gave us like two hours notice.

- Who does she say her mom is?

- You.

- How old is she?

- 17.

Well, almost 17.

- No, Syl.

What is she, 23?

- She's 29.

She's a good woman.

She picked up a lot of pieces, a lot of pieces.

Things got crazy after mom died.

- Clearly.

- I barely even recognized the house.

Is that why you couldn't come and visit, 'cause you were so busy decorating?

- We had Joe and it just got harder to make the drive.

And Claire's always got a game or practice or whatever else she does damn near every weekend.

(sighs heavily) (soft piano music) You're home.

We're family.

(soft piano music) (soft music) (soft music) (music stops) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (sighs deeply) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (crying softly) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (inspirational music) ♪ We are home ♪ We are home ♪ Home ♪ Home ♪ Home ♪ Home ♪ Home (gentle music) (gentle music)