Nomadic Independence Pictures

In 1985 a summer vacation in Ocean City, Md., changes the life of a shy white teen who's obsessed with table tennis and hip-hop music.

Set in the Mojave Desert, the film follows a broken-down comedian playing clubs across the Southwest, working his way to Los Angeles to meet his estranged daughter.

Bill Best, a veteran of the Vietnam War, spends his days and nights in the grip of an empty routine; whiskey, cigarettes and television form a taut border around the perimeter of his life. But beneath the surface of his everyday regime, Bill is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Gwynn, a mail-order bride from Vietnam. As the pair finally meet and settle in, the economic agreement that brought them together grow increasingly overshadowed by the ghosts of their shared past and the hope of a brighter future.