About the film
A North Korean asylum seeker and an asylum attorney—both unseen women—who in the face of intense pressures
learn that surviving isn’t enough.
And justice does not always equal freedom.
This film is a peek into the underbelly of the universality of trauma. Hardship and pain are part of the shared human experience, though hardly discussed without stigma. This story shares two women’s secret experience with pain and their attempts to help each other. Though flawed and broken, both characters try to display compassion.
These extreme character stories are great story-telling devices to challenge each viewer’s perspective on dealing with life’s hardest moments—opening conversations toward healing and understanding. Everyone’s experiences are different, but the heritage of unresolved conflict is predictable.
Female written, female directed, female produced two-times over - and composed by a female - we are proud of the expertise and spirit of collaboration each woman brought to this film. There is a short-hand that existed on this set with this team, pre, production and post, that speaks so clearly to the understanding women as a gender share regarding trauma and abuse.
director
Kali Bailey is a writer/director based in Nashville, TN. She has worked in the film industry since she was fourteen, climbing the ranks from P.A. to Assistant Director to Director. Working with major brands like Disney+ and Netflix, her work has gained widespread recognition. She also co-wrote a feature film, “A Week Away,” currently streaming on Netflix. Her most recent writing and directing project “The Tesla Kid” a sci-fi feature film, is currently in post-production with five time Emmy award winning Evolve Studios.
Director Statement
At its core, Like Stars is a story about the unseen battles that shape us, no matter where or who we are. Through the interwoven journeys of Ellen, an asylum attorney trapped in an abusive marriage, and Jin-Kyong, a North Korean defector fighting for a new life, the film explores the quiet yet powerful ways women endure, resist, and reclaim their agency.
As a filmmaker, I was drawn to the raw intensity of these parallel struggles—two women from vastly different worlds, bound by a silent understanding of fear, sacrifice, and the weight of impossible choices. With "Like Stars", we wanted to create a film that immerses audiences in the emotional gravity of survival, both emotionally and literally.
This film is about what we carry with us; the scars both invisible and corporeal, and the moment we decide to fight back...
Over forty films - Faith murphy
Faith’s mission in everything is to be an ear to those who need it, and a conduit for suspending judgments for the sake of understanding of each other with deeper compassion.
Over Forty Films, LLC is a boutique film production company dedicated to using film to build bridges and challenge assumptions of people groups outside the viewers purview. Its mission in every project is to help humanity understand itself better—building towards unity through compassion and understanding.
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