Ra?, a twentysomething muslim immigrant working at a salad packing plant, is laid off one day and enforced to face the real world. She is an expert in cutting vegetables, but without a high school diploma nor a driver’s license, the small town she grew up in just gets smaller and smaller. After a string of unsuccessful job interviews, her never-say-die attitude slowly fades and Ra? ultimately confronts the painful reality she lives in. And that reality should be quite familiar to the younger generation throughout the world. Companies are restructuring, foreign workers will work for less, and multiple cultures are colliding with traditional convention. As we follow the portrayal of Ra?’ struggles and selfconquest, we can’t help but finding ourselves rooting for that “another me” Gabriela Pichler knows how to balance humor and sorrow, a very rare feat for a first-time director. The director has also succeeded in bringing out brilliant performances from amateur actors playing the main characters, including Nermina Lukac’s indomitable Ra?. (Karen PARK)