Remittance is a must-see realistic film about Singapore's low-wage migrant workers and what they face in the work industry. Joel Fendelman and Patrick Daly co-wrote the script and the cast includes real domestic workers.
We follow Marie (Angela Boratia), a Filipina domestic worker, as she deals with abusive employers, long hours, and separation from her family. This story debunks the myth that domestic help workers are only useful for housework. Instead, it shows how Marie matures into a woman with distinct responsibilities and goals. Remittance is fundamentally about a young woman maturing and learning to prioritize her own needs in addition to those of her loved ones.
The story is more complicated than just Singapore. It is a global phenomenon that mothers from poor third-world countries are being forced to leave their children in order to find work in developed countries. Singapore represents a microcosm of global trends.
Many families, like the ones depicted in Remittance, send a parent abroad to work where they often spend several months away from their family. The tale is grounded in reality, and the acting is superb. You could even forget that you're watching a drama. Although it moves at a snail's pace, the film highlights the difficulty many people have when trying to support their family back home through employment abroad. It shows the dreadful way some domestic workers are treated and their struggles in managing both work and family.
Remittance is a tear-jerking film that exposes you to the harsh realities most of us do not experience. It lets you know what others are going through and encourages us to treat those in the domestic industry with more respect. Marital struggle, unwed motherhood, women's liberation, servitude, and Filipino heritage are among the themes explored in this film.
What subjects or college majors would benefit from the content covered in this film?
Remittance centers the lives and experiences of women from intimate personal revelation to fired-up political engagement, thereby benefitting Women’s Studies majors.
What public library shelves would this title be on?
Remittance would be on the social sciences shelves in public libraries. Its outstanding production values make it enjoyable and engaging to view. It might be used in any social science course to explain why and how people in nations where remittances are common do so.