Jeannette is shocked to learn that in a few minutes she is expected to give a lecture on live TV to Gifu women about what it’s like to be an independent American woman. She decides to shock the Organizers back by telling the audience the truth. By evening’s end, she and the Gifu women discover their lives are not so different, even though they would like to think so.

What happens “When Strangers Meet” becomes more than the theme of the Hawaii International Film Festival.

While Quentin Tarantino traverses Asia conducting Filmmaker Labs for Sundance Institute, Hawaii Film Festival director Jeannette Paulson is invited to Ulaanbaatar Mongolia over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday to advise Mongolian film industry leaders on how their state subsidized film industry can switch to capitalism in one week. After a near death experience during a chaotic stampede inside a freezing cold dark Ulaanbaatar movie theatre, Jeannette realizes that not having a date on New Year’s Eve is probably not the worse problem in the world.

By rejecting her sister Sheilah’s invitation to scrutinize family secrets, Jeannette misses a once in a life-time opportunity to become close to her.