In his outstanding feature film debut, writer/director Rodd Rathjen has used real — and ongoing —events to create a sparsely elegant, unsentimental and gripping social thriller. Chakra is an intelligent, restless 14-year-old boy living in a Cambodian village who chafes under the thumb of his tough father. Eager to be paid for his labor, Chakra runs away, but trades one oppressor for another when he, through false promises, falls into the clutches of human traffickers and is forced into slavery on a fishing boat. From the moment he steps onto the hellish boat until the satisfying final scene, the unexpected thriller narrative twists of Buoyancy show us a world we can’t imagine, but can’t afford to ignore.

Winner: Ecumenical Jury Prize (Panorama), Berlin; Best Youth Feature Film, Asia Pacific Screen Awards

In competition for the FIPRESCI Prize

Director Rodd Rathjen is expected to be in attendance on January 10 and 11.