This deeply felt film by a Brazilian woman of Japanese ancestry is based on the experiences of her own grandmother coming to Brazil at the turn of the century, when Japanese were encouraged to join the Brazilian labor force during that country's coffee boom. In an effort to comply with the immigration agents' preference for family units, a very young Titoe (Kyoko Tsukamoto) marries Yamada, a man whom she has never met, and the two leave for Brazil. There, life on the plantation is close to slavery for the immigrant workers (Japanese, Italians and others). Gaijin is a compelling story of a woman's struggle to survive, set against a growing union consciousness among the immigrant workers. The word “gaijin” means “the outsider,” and director Tizuka Yamasaki wanted her Japanese lead actress to effect the most authentic experience possible, and therefore asked that she arrive in Brazil having done no research, and not speaking the language. The result is a performance of extreme sensitivity in the demanding role of Titoe, who grows from childhood to adulthood in the complex political and personal world of the “gaijin.”