A trans African woman living in Boston must make an impossible choice after her asylum is denied—run from the life she’s built or wait to be taken in by ICE.
Chacha, a stylish and resilient African trans woman, runs a bustling braiding salon in Boston where her clients and family keep the space filled with chatter, laughter, and music. But beneath her confident exterior, Chacha carries the heavy weight of uncertainty. When a letter from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services arrives, her world begins to unravel.
As news reports of ICE raids and immigrant detentions ripple through the community, Chacha’s fear deepens. She hides the truth from her niece, Siya, even as Siya senses her aunt’s quiet anguish. The denial of Chacha’s asylum forces her to confront the impossible—leaving behind the life she has built, her business, and the people she loves.
With ICE agents looming, hate messages plastered in her neighborhood, and no legal path forward, Chacha makes the heartbreaking decision to pack some of her belongings, and she steps into the night, uncertain of her destination but resolved not to be another ICE victim.
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE is a poignant meditation on belonging, resilience, and the quiet courage of those whose lives hang in the balance of immigration policies.
Thato R. Mwosa is an award-winning illustrator, screenwriter, playwright, and filmmaker. Her films have been broadcast nationally and internationally. Her first feature film, Memoirs of a Black Girl, premiered at the 2021 Boston Globe’s Black History Month Film Festival, and it won the Best Feature Film award at the 2021 Hamilton Black Film Festival and the 2021 Roxbury International Film Festival (RIFF). Additionally, Thato won Best Feature Director at the 2021 Hamilton Film Festival. She has been featured on NPR and the Boston Globe.
Thato was a finalist for the 2019 Mass Cultural Art Fellowship in the Dramatic Writing category. Thato's latest script, Rati, was selected for The Stowe Narrative Lab (2024) and the prestigious Meryl Streep funded The Writer's Lab NYC (2024)
Thato has taught film and screenwriting classes at Boston University, Harvard University, and Lesley University and is an Assistant Professor at Emerson College.
