During the past decade the face of Ireland has been transformed beyond recognition. Historically a country of departure and out-migration, it is now one of arrival and home to new constituencies of migrant workers from Africa, Asia and eastern Europe – for whom holding a working visa versus a short-term work permit can make a dramatic difference to the quality of a migrant’s life. Shot over a period of two years, this humane and observational film is an intimate portrait of a gay Filipino nurse, and the public expression of his political activism. The film captures Fidel Taguinod in dialogue with Irish civil society, exposing the inadequacies and market-driven characteristics of immigration policy in Ireland. Fidel’s world outside the hospital environment, his social position in the Filipino community and domestic life with his Irish partner, is dynamically depicted, as is the negotiation of his bakla (gay) identity in performances such as ‘Miss Alternative Philippines’ and ‘Diva Manila’, in which he playfully mixes gay politics with migrant workers’ rights and entitlements.