Filipino Film Festival celebrates community and healing

S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , Beth Accomando gives us a preview of the San Diego Filipino Film Festival. This is KPBS Midday Edition connecting our communities through conversation. San Diego County has the nation's second largest Filipino American population , so it's more than fitting that the South Bay host a San Diego Filipino film festival. KPBS Cinema Junkie Beth Accomando has been charting its evolution since its inception back in 2021. To preview this year's festival , she speaks with founder Benito Bautista and programmer Sammy Antico at their Liberty Station office. Take a listen , Benito.

S2: We are on the eve of another San Diego Filipino Film Festival. Is there anything new or different this year ? Well.

S3: Again , thank you very much , Beth , for having us. And yes , for the past four years , we've had the film festival run for six days. This time it's a compressed one. It's a three day film festival. We want to focus on celebration and community and healing , and there will be a lot of parties. And at the same time , we are going to go back to how we started. We're going to focus on opening the film festival with a series of amazing short films. And one thing that's kind of different this year oh , we have visions and voices , uh , to talk about film markets and programming for international film festivals and premier film festivals. That's really this is really amazing. And at the same time , my film , one of my films , which is a feature documentary at the moment , The Road to Sydney will be community presentation , San Diego Filipino Film Festival , and then after that we have the Barrio rising queer after party celebration. Yeah.

S2: So it must be exciting for you to have one of your own films at the festival this year. Tell us what the film is about.

S3: So The Road to Sydney is a feature documentary. Wrote and directed , it took about 78 years in the making. The Road to Sydney follows the Philippine dance master and choreographer Sydney Loyola , who who found refuge in dance after childhood of bullying in Palawan , one of the islands in the Philippines. That's where she grew up. Now based in San Francisco , Sydney faces discrimination and struggles and the realities of job loss and eviction following her gender affirmation. That's her journey , and through her courage and artistry in dance , she embarks on a journey of healing and identity.

S4: I want to create movement in that music. I want to recreate that memory being performed by a person of a Filipino heritage , but her technique is Western , so I want to incorporate that Western technique to the traditional form. You can learn from the Western world , but never , never lose your roots because your roots makes you the being that you are today.

S3: And in the end , she's going to try and reconcile and reconnect with her estranged father. So. And because she's a dance master , she wanted to she wanted to create a dance that she can offer to the very place where she was born. And that's in Palawan. So the road to Sydney is a human story with trans people in it. But at the same time , it's a , it's a , it's an expression of dance , you know , as a , as a , as an art form , a support system , a sort of a , a a haven for Uh , counseling and healing , you know , especially for. For the trans community , you know. So. Yeah. And you can see the evolution of , of Sydney as a human being as well.

S2: And Sami , you are a programmer with the film festival.

S5: This is actually my second year as a programmer , and I felt like this year was quite difficult. We had over 100 submissions to the festival this year , and what I noticed is that , you know , obviously all art reflects the time that they were created in , and I felt like this year was no exception. I feel like we have a lot of films covering things like climate change , familial relations , LGBTQIA like identity and things like that. So it was a tough decision. But I believe we have a very strong set of films this year.

S2:

S5: We have two shorts that were really interesting. There was Lip Sync Assassin and Zinaida , and they are about individuals in the LGBTQ community and especially like drag queens. So they're two really interesting ones.

S6: I present to you the living legend Zinaida.

S7: I , I haven't been in a long time.

S6: I'm not gonna have you talk like that , madame.

S7: What was I thinking ? I can't do it. I'm going to cancel.

S8: Wait , mom. You've been looking forward to performing again.

S7: But I haven't perform in over 20 years.

S2: And for people who may not be familiar with the festival , this doesn't focus just on Filipino filmmakers , but also Filipino-American. Correct ? Correct.

S5: Yes. So we have filmmakers from the US back home in the Philippines , from Europe and Canada. So it's a diverse group of voices , Filipino voices from all over.

S2: And talk about the shorts program , because these are always exciting , because you have so many different films that everyone is bound to find something good. Absolutely.

S5: Absolutely. Like , we have several programs going on this year , and a lot of them have different stories and different diverse narratives. A lot of them talk about , like the struggles of overseas Filipino workers , which aren't really explored in a lot of media. Familial relations , as I mentioned earlier , is a huge topic this year , too , especially with like , queer individuals and their family members. One documentary was sunny , directed by Rufio. Saint George was a really good exploration of like familial relations , like a queer individual and their parent. Honestly , all of the films this year , they just showcase like how nuanced and diverse our stories are within the community. It's like a testament of art as a way to heal and bring people together.

S2: And one of your films , I don't know if it's a centerpiece film , but one of the films where you actually have someone coming to speak at the film is sunshine. So tell us what this story is about.

S3: Sunshine was actually in the beginning , was banned in the Philippines because it talks about abortion. It talks about abortion. We don't have abortion in the Philippines. So , uh , but now it's accepted. The film is now accepted and people are really going to the film. It's a story of a young woman who is now , uh , going to compete in the Olympics for , for , uh , ballet and ribbon dance.

S9: Next , Jimmy from San Francisco , from the Lord.

S3: And she has a dilemma because she's going to have a baby , but that is actually the conflict , having a baby. And so where will that go ? Well , how is she going to talk to to the father of the baby and maybe the family of the father and also her family ? Director Antoinette Hayden really did a great job in actually creating a shadow as a symbol of the baby was a symbol of a child , right ? An inner , an inner consciousness and conversation. And that's a shadow. And that's really amazing in the film. Morris Raquel , as the actress is the lead actress , really did an amazing job and we are so fortunate to have her. We are going to have a Maurice to call with us. So that's sunshine. That's the centerpiece and closing night film.

S2: And Sammy is a programmer.

S5: I think it's going to be such an exciting thing to have Maurice Raquel here to talk about playing sunshine and just how she embodied that role , especially in the Philippines where abortion is illegal and it's still an ongoing debate.

S2: So and do you think audiences , even perhaps Filipino American audiences , will be surprised by kind of the diversity of films and filmmakers and how far across the globe they come ? Absolutely.

S5: Even as a programmer , I was surprised to see films like from Europe and films from like Canada , too. I know Canada has a large like Canadian Filipino population , but actually sitting and watching their narratives was so enlightening to me because it opened my eyes up to like , oh , this is my community , but in another country , you know , and it's so uniquely them. It was such an interesting experience being able to do this , and I think it's a treat for everyone this year to be able to , you know , immerse themselves in these narratives.

S3: And regional stories present in the film festival because the Philippines , again , is 7100 islands. And so that alone separated by geography and water and language , so some films are expressed not in Tagalog , a language. It's expressed in the Alano and Cebuano language. And and you get to experience that. So I think that's part of the experience as well.

S2: And tell people where the festival is.

S3: The festival will be at the AMC Plaza Bonita Westfield in National City. It will be there including the Visions and Voices panel discussion.

S2: And explain a little bit about visions and voices and what people can get from that , because this is really a great networking opportunity for people.

S3: Well , Visions and Voices started because Emma and I , as filmmakers and producers , we've been traveling to international film markets and we've we've because of the films we've made , fortunately for us , experienced , uh , programming in different , uh , international film festivals. So we wanted to bring this experience and the insights within this experience to the the community of emerging filmmakers and also beginning filmmakers , or just the community trying to figure out what actually happens in a film market or in an international or premier film festival. So aside from the market , so the international film market is actually an experience that if you don't know how to navigate , you will get lost , you know ? And it's a place for your film to be seen , to be distributed , to be licensed , to be picked up , to be bought. But at the same time , what goes into that prior to going there and hopefully get funding for the film you're about to make and also create a network. And so , yeah , the visions and voices , we've started Visions and Voices since I think 2018 , and we've gone to different , uh , faces. We have incubation and mentoring and discussion of development of films. We've gone into , I think , producing films. And now we are going to navigate into experiencing and preparing for the experience of international film markets. Because , you know , we noticed that there's a lot of filmmakers , especially of Filipino heritage and diverse filmmakers in San Diego , who really have never been to international film markets.

S2: And you've really grown this festival quite a bit in just a few years.

S3: I think Covid destroyed that experience , and we're trying to bring that experience again in sitting down and watching movies , you know , in theaters. But the success of , you know , the film festival actually is because of so many different things. Our volunteers , amazing volunteers , dedication , intentionality in inspiration. They're all amazing Volunteers coming from diverse backgrounds , cross-generational and at the same time. Our community of supporters and most especially our heroes , the global filmmakers. That are continually imagining things and putting things into front paper to film and translating it into into stories that we can all learn. We can all learn from. And that's something that we are excited about. And when we started , we were thinking. I wonder if there will be filmmakers from our community in San Diego and maybe LA that will participate. Yes they did. And now it's global. We have people from from Europe , from Asia , from the Middle East , from Canada and Southeast Asia that are really excited about the film festival and really wanted to to bring their stories to our audience. You know , so that's , that's a that's what's amazing. So. Yeah.

S2: Well , thank you both for talking about this year's San Diego Filipino Film Festival.

S3: Thank you. Thank you. And we'll see you. We'll see you at the San Diego Filipino Film Festival.

S2: Yes , indeed.

S1: That was Beth Accomando speaking with Benito Bautista and Sami Nicco of the San Diego Filipino Film Festival. The festival kicks off Thursday with a meet and greet party , with film screening Thursday through Sunday at the AMC Plaza Bonita Theaters. That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.