AustLit

'On the eve of his 18th birthday, Riz faces betraying his closest friends as he struggles to maintain a ‘secret’ relationship with Kylie and a future at odds with his cultural and social background.

'Riz is a leader among a group of teenage boys from Western Sydney. The bond between these mates from different refugee and working class backgrounds is stronger than family.

'As a birthday present, they film stories of how Riz has supported them through a maze of social problems they’ve encountered during their tough high school years. He’s kept them off the streets and away from crime.

'Before they can show him the video, he betrays them all.

'Riz is different. He was always the most helpful, the most compassionate, the one everyone looked up to and respected. He excels at school, becomes the first in his immigrant Indian family to be offered a university place and seems destined for great things.

'But he is leading a secret second life. His middle-class girlfriend, Kylie, has never met his family or friends. They don’t know she exists. He has lied to her about where he lives. She doesn’t know he has doubts about going to university, and is making plans for their gap-year. He creates two worlds and the conflicting expectations of each gradually overwhelm him.

'Riz begins to question his place in the community he once loved. Are his close friends, who were once the most important part of his life, now an anchor that keep him trapped where he no longer belongs? He faces a choice between financing the image he has presented to Kylie, or action that could leave his friends homeless.'

Source: CuriousWorks website.