Out of My Place is a film that surrounds Monica, an immigrant who flew from China to the UK but is unable to integrate into the society. She sticks to her routine and ethnic circle with her boyfriend, but a conversation with her British colleague, Bonnie, sparks her to dream about something more. She dreams about taking flight and taking a chance in possibly establishing a stronger relationship with Bonnie, but a party with mostly white people has taken her aback. The leaps in dance are like as if they are taking flight, where borders between them are transcended and shattered.

The film is stemmed from my dissertation research into the idea of dream ballets in Golden Age Hollywood films, where I analysed how musicals in the past focus on entertainment and providing an “implied dream” that the audience can escape in. However, my film wants to put the musical genre through an immigrant gaze, and represent the reality my characters are facing. There are efforts in scriptwriting and production to ensure the reality of it is in tact, while playing around with inspirations from musicals and explorations into characters’ dream worlds. The film is a statement on how musicals can be revitalised through an immigrant gaze and have possibilities to be something more than pure entertainment.