Take Out (2004)

An illegal Chinese immigrant falls behind on payments on an enormous smuggling debt. Ming Ding has only until the end of the day to come up with the money. “Take Out” is a day-in-the-life of Ming Ding, an illegal Chinese immigrant working as a deliveryman for a Chinese take-out shop in New York City. Ming is behind with payments on his huge debt to the smugglers who brought him to the US. The collectors have given him until the end of the day to deliver the money that is due. After borrowing most of the money from friends and relatives, Ming realizes that the remainder must come from the day’s delivery tips. In order to do so, he must make more than double his average daily income. Employing an ensemble cast of both professional and nonprofessional actors, and filmed in an actual take-out restaurant during operating hours, directors Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou utilize a cinema vérité style to paint a distinctly human face on the lives of illegal immigrants lost in the shadows of an uncaring city.