The past and present, the real and the imagined occupy the same space in this quietly dignified, intimate film about a solitary man striving to heal his past transgressions by assisting in bringing new lives into the world.

A middle-aged Samoan man living in New Zealand, Maea’s human interactions are limited to his fellow bakery employees and the pregnant women who come to him for traditional massage and midwifery. His strong hands, which once destroyed opponents in the boxing ring, now knead dough and soothe mothers-to-be, but his guilt and remorse over his own family’s fate haunt him daily. The arrival of Maea’s pregnant daughter offers a chance at atonement, and illuminates the clash between the old ways and the new, through both language and sensibilities.

Tusi Tamasese’s bewitching, atmospheric film is a story of generations and modernization, of a father striving to redeem himself with each insightful massage, each perfect batch of dough.

In competition for the New Voices New Visions Award and the FIPRESCI Prize.