THE DELTA tells the sometimes romantic, often painful story of a seventeen year-old suburban boy and a Vietnamese man who run away together on a boat down the Mississipppi River.

Set in Memphis and the surrounding countryside, the film leads the viewer on an unexpected journey through the modern South and into a variety of worlds: large Jewish families, suburban teens, newly transplanted Asian immigrants, and small-town gay life. The tension created when these close-knit communities come in contact with each other- the racial hothouse of urban America- drives the film towards its tragic conclusion.

Writer/director Ira Sachs cast the film with non-actors found after months searching through the bars and clubs and pool halls of Memphis. The real voices, sounds and nuances of Southern life infuse the film, spinning a taut, authentic, and quintesentially American tale.