By Linelle S. Mogado and Melanie Palapuz
It’s an exciting time for Asian Americans and Canadians in film, TV, and streaming platforms. We have the CBC’s “Kim’s Convenience”, Sandra Oh, and many Asian American and Canadian actors blowing up in the wake of “Crazy Rich Asians.” But how about Filipino stories in North America, told and portrayed by us? Get ready for the music-driven immigrant story of “Yellow Rose.”
The film, not quite American or Filipino (or seemingly both, at the same time), features a teenaged Rose (Eva Noblezada) coming of age in Texas. When the law catches up with Rose’s mom (Princess Punzalan), Rose’s life begins to resemble a country song (pardon the cliché) – Fil-Am style.
Perhaps our stories are getting more attention because North America’s borders have hardened; humans are criminalized simply for doing what humans have always done: migrate for survival. The film gives us a timely peek into the systemic racism enshrined in the U.S. immigration process, and reveals the degrading and emotionally abusive nature of the legal system. The “border” has spawned countless stories of tragedy, violence, and families broken by the immigration system, but the brown faces of these stories we usually see are not our own. In the words of Lea Salonga, who plays Rose’s Tita Gail, “Yellow Rose” “…humanizes the undocumented,” and adds fresh faces and complexity to round out the border story narrative.
The world premiere of “Yellow Rose” at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in May 2019 earned it the Grand Jury Award for outstanding North American feature. Just last month, before Canadian audiences, “Yellow Rose” cleaned up. It won Best Feature at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, and won the People’s Choice Award for Best Overall Feature at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. “Yellow Rose” will be distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA), and in the Philippines, by ABS-CBN. This means the film will be coming to a theatre near you in Spring 2020.
Leading lady Noblezada, who is Mexican and Filipino, makes her screen debut with “Yellow Rose”, but at 23, is a musical theatre veteran. She earned two Tony nominations for her performances as Kim in the 2017 Broadway revival of Miss Saigon and as Eurydice, in Hadestown, staged in London. “Yellow Rose” also features the Philippines’ beloved Salonga, the world’s first Kim, and the first Asian actress to win a Tony award. Rose’s mom is deftly portrayed by Punzalan, who seems to have a thing for playing the villainess in Filipino TV. Punzalan appeared as Selina Periera-Matias, in Mula sa Puso and was also in Now and Forever’s series, Mukha (2005), as well as The Last Prince (2010). Other characters who come into Rose’s life, including real-life country star Dale Watson, test Rose’s ability to trust strangers on her treacherous journey.
Rose shifts between the world of her mother and her American life. As Filipinas who have grown up in Canada, we recognize this daily shift that we have performed on an internal level, living in two vastly different worlds at the same time. Rose finds herself moving through the cultural norms of country music in Austin, Texas, while also remaining very Filipina. As her legal troubles loom, she finds her voice – and a home – in music.
The music just may be the scene-stealer of “Yellow Rose”. The film captured many real-time songwriting moments between the characters. Most songs are co-written by Filipina-American director Diana Paragas, Watson, and Noblezada, along with Thia Megia (remember American Idol?) and composer Christopher H. Knight. Paragas is not only a Texan with punk musical roots, who spent 15 years developing the film, she is a successful commercial director in her own right. There’s also an upcoming “Yellow Rose” soundtrack to look forward to.
As Punzalan advised at the Toronto premiere, the first two days of any film’s run is key for its success, so kababayans: support our storytellers and the telling of Filipino stories around the world, and see this film the moment it comes out!
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