A Japanese-American woman travels to Tokyo to find a very specific can of paint for a friend’s boss. “Space White,” directed by Isaac Ravishankara, is a quiet character study of Sam who arrives in Japan without knowing the language or culture. The store she’s been told will have the paint she’s looking for is locked and no one is around. While she stakes out the place day and night waiting for someone to return (living off of vending machine food and drink), she places a series of phone calls home, increasingly desperate. Is she at the right place? Are there any clues on the can of paint she’s lugging around to replace? Eventually she finds help with a English speaking waiter who keeps her hopes alive. It’s a hazy, low-stakes mystery, minimally plotted but rich in atmosphere. A fish out of water tale with a wry setup — placing a half-Japanese woman in her motherland as a complete outsider on a seemingly trivial mission — and engrossing lead performance from co-writer, Dre Babinski.

Directed by Isaac Ravishankara. Written by Dre Babinski & Isaac Ravishankara. Cast: Dre Babinski, Wataru Kudo & Toru Ohmuta, Shu Kakizawa, Shizuka Nagahama, Jessica Lu, Kenjiro Horii. Director of Photography: Kevin Hayden. 1st AC: Yuya Kudo / Brian Weiland. Locations: John Haggerty. PA: Sarah Vanderwater. Editor: Isaac Ravishankara. Color: Greg Reese (a52). Sound Design & Mix: Grant Meuers. Original Score: Azniv Korkejian. Title Design: Sebastian Pardo.