In rural Cambodia, spirited 14-year-old Chakra works the rice fields with his family. He yearns for independence and seeks out a local broker who can get him paid work in a Thai factory. Without telling his family, Chakra travels to Bangkok to make his fortune.

Chakra secretly journeys across the border and finally arrives in Thailand. But there he and his new friend Kea realise the broker has lied to them. Both Chakra and Kea, along with other Cambodians and Burmese, are sold to a fishing captain as slaves.

They are trapped at sea indefinitely, trawling fish 22 hours a day, surviving on just a handful of cold rice. Captain Rom Ran quickly weeds out those slaves weakened by the conditions or trying to escape, and throws them overboard. The trawler sells its catch and restocks its supplies without going to land, making escape impossible.

As fellow slaves are tortured and murdered around them, Kea begins to lose his mind. When his only ally is killed, Chakra looks to Rom Ran to understand what it will take to be free. With hope and humanity dwindling, Chakra decides to take control of the trawler.

Buoyancy premiered internationally at the Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury and an Amnesty International nomination, and was in the critics top ten for Screen International and Sight & Sound. The film had its Australian premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival and is being released in Australian cinemas September 26.