Filipino films riding high on a fast-rising Asian wave of international digital content offerings
At a time when the U.S. movie industry is still trying to concretize what “moviegoing” really looks like in a post-pandemic world, there are signs of hope and cheer for film lovers who are banking on streaming platforms to deliver the goods.
Variety reported that only 35 percent of North American theaters are open and tickets have been hovering at an all-time low. The Oscars – normally held in February or early March – have been pushed to April 25, 2021 with no guarantee if it will physically take place or just go virtual. But even with these seemingly discouraging forebodings, opportunities always arise.
As Nichi Bei Weekly columnist Ben Hamamoto wrote a few days ago, streaming has become the vanguard of Asian American content.
Hamamoto wrote: “According to a recent Nielsen report, AAPIs (Asian American Pacific Islanders) are cord-cutting at a much higher rate than other groups, and 82 percent of us subscribe to at least one streaming service.
YELLOW ROSE
Just this past holiday season, subscribers to giant streaming platforms were treated to a harvest of Asian films. Two of those are Filipino gems that were celebrated in film festivals all over the world: “Yellow Rose” by Filipino American director Diane Paragas and “Quezon’s Game” by British national Matthew Rosen who has been living in the Philippines since 1986.
“Yellow Rose” is a timely story of a Filipina teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while having to decide between staying with her family or leaving the only home she has known.
Just recently, it became available on Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Google Play, Fandango Now, PlayStation, and Microsoft Movies and TV. This film has won 13 festival jury and audience awards, including the Special Jury Award – Best Narrative Feature at the Asian American International Film Festival, the Grand Jury Prize – Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and the Best Feature Film Award and Audience Choice Award at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. It was among the Top 100 films of Rotten Tomatoes in 2020.
The film stars Noblezada (Hadestown, Miss Saigon) in her film feature acting debut, Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga (Once On This Island, Miss Saigon), Princess Punzalan (Mula sa Puso), Dale Watson (Friday Night Lights), Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood), and Liam Booth (Ghosts Never Sleep).
QUEZON’S GAME
On January 27, 2021, the world will observe the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a day of remembrance designated by the United Nations General Assembly.
On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism. According to the Atlanta Jewish Times, the plan to rescue Jews was first suggested to President Quezon over a game of poker by two Jewish brothers, Alex and Herbert Frieder from Cincinnati, who had operated a cigar factory in the Philippines in what was then the American Commonwealth in the Pacific that was subject to American immigration laws. The granddaughter of Alex Frieder, Barbara Sasser, credits the success of the plan to Quezon who she described as a genuine friend of the Jews.
The Atlanta Jewish Times quoted Sasser as saying that the reason why Quezon supported the plan was that he was a good Catholic. Sasser quoted Quezon as saying, “The most unreligious thing I can think of is to think badly of the people who brought us our Savior.”
Rosen was touched by the little-known story from the members of the Jewish Association of the Philippines back in 2009. Together with his Filipina wife Lori, who co-produced the film, they decided to retell the truly extraordinary and moving tale on the big screen. In an interview about the film, Rosen said: “I’m Pinoy at heart, and this was truly a passion project for me.
For more information on “Yellow Rose”, visit https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/yellowrose and on “Quezon’s Game” at https://www.quezonsgame.com/.
