Twelve-year-old Akira is head of his family, two younger sisters and a brother. Dad has never featured in their lives and mum, well she has a tendency to come and then go. Left to their own devices the children have to adapt to survive and in doing so they observe the grown-up world with a wonder and resignation that breaks the heart and blows the mind. Based on a true story, which was reported in the Japanese news in 1988, and shot in a semi-documentary style "Nobody Knows" is a deeply moving and insightful film.