Feature on Filipino American Cinema

Albert Lanier has written a nice piece for the Philippine News about the Filipino American presence at the Hawaii International Film Festival last month. HIFF had a special focus on Filipino films this year because 2006 marks the Centennial of Filipinos in the U.S. These films included works by Hawaii-based documentarians Stephanie Castillo ("Strange Land") and Emme Tomimbang ("Mabuhay with Aloha"), and former UH Academy for Creative Media student Renato Fontaine ("Brown").

Lanier also mentions L.A. Renigen, star of "Colma: The Musical," which was co-written by her co-star and fellow FilAm H.P. Mendoza; and Matthew Libatique, a prolific and successful FilAm cinematographer ("Pi," "Requiem for a Dream," "The Fountain," "Inside Man," "Everything is Illuminated," etc.), who gave a special seminar at HIFF, and who said of his HIFF experience, "my whole world has opened up....It’s inspiring for me to meet Filipino filmmakers and it’s inspiring to see everybody being creative.”

>> Hawaii filmmakers mull over future of FilAm cinema [Philippine News, 11/8/06]

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