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| Broadway's Eva Noblezada stars in 'Yeellow Rose.' |
A Filipina American country singer? Really? The motion picture Yellow Rose will break more than a few stereotypes when it premieres on the opening night of the prestigious Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF) this May 2.
As the opening night selection for the film festival, Yellow Rose will get a lot of attention from Hollywood, the movie industry's capitol.
Yellow Rose stars Tony Award-winning actress and Broadway icon Lea Salonga and Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada. It tells a tale of a young undocumented Filipina (Noblezada) who grows up in Texas with her dream to become a country music artist, complete with cowboy hat and guitar.
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| DIANE PARAGAS |
Noblezada, 23, was just nominated for a 2019 Tony award for her perforance in the musical Hadestown. Her earlier Tony nomination was as Kim in Miss Saigon.
“I am grateful that I am making my feature film debut with Lea, who plays my Auntie,” she said. “Yellow Rose is the first-ever Filipina American film opening night presentation of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF). It addresses issues that people don’t really discuss that are specific to our current politics. I am grateful to play somebody that needs to be represented, a huge majority in the United States. And to represent our Pinoy community is special in itself.”
Director and producer Diane Paragas' first feature also includes Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood) and Texas country music favorite, Dale Watson. With its unique take on East-meets-the-Wild-West, Yellow Rose challenges audiences and their presumptions of what it means to be an "American."
“I am grateful that I am making my feature film debut with Lea, who plays my Auntie,” she said. “Yellow Rose is the first-ever Filipina American film opening night presentation of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPFF). It addresses issues that people don’t really discuss that are specific to our current politics. I am grateful to play somebody that needs to be represented, a huge majority in the United States. And to represent our Pinoy community is special in itself.”
Director and producer Diane Paragas' first feature also includes Gustavo Gomez (The Walking Dead), Libby Villari (Boyhood) and Texas country music favorite, Dale Watson. With its unique take on East-meets-the-Wild-West, Yellow Rose challenges audiences and their presumptions of what it means to be an "American."
Paragas says that representation of Filipino Americans was important to her in order to tell this story. “As a Filipina American, I feel like we are mostly invisible as a subset of Asian Americans. Filipinos have played other Asians, but you rarely see a Filipino being a Filipino," said Paragas, who grew up in Austin, Texas, the setting for the movie.
That's true. With the recent exceptions of Nico Santos (Superstore), Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Vincent Rodriguez III (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend),Vanessa Hudgens (the short-lived Powerless) and award-winning Darren Criss (American Crime Story: The Assassination if Gianni Versace), Filipino Americans usually end playing other Asians or Latinos.
(You would think Hawaii Five-0 or Magnum P.I. would have a Filipino character since Filipinos are the largest ethnic group in that state.}
The aforementioned shows are all on television. For motion pictures, unless the movie takes place during WWII, Filipinos are almost nonexistent..
The 35th rendition of the LAAPFF launches the celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month through this year’s slate of over 100 films from both Asian Pacific American and Asian international artists. For over three decades, the Festival has presented close to 4,000 films by Asian Pacific American and Asian international talent. (You would think Hawaii Five-0 or Magnum P.I. would have a Filipino character since Filipinos are the largest ethnic group in that state.}
The aforementioned shows are all on television. For motion pictures, unless the movie takes place during WWII, Filipinos are almost nonexistent..
This year the Festival has over a dozen films from local filmmakers. The festival’s full line-up will be announced on Monday, April 1.
Besides Paragas as producer with Cecilia Mejia, Orian Williams, Rey Cuerdo and Co-Producer Jeremiah Abraham. Yellow Rose is supported by New York-based Asian CineVision, Cinematografo Originals (ABS-CBN Global), and was awarded the Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant last year by the New York Women in Film & Television.
Yellow Rose premieres at 7 pm on May 2 at the Aratani Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles. The LAAPFF is presented by the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center Visual Communications. The full LAAPFF lineup will be announced on April 1.
Besides Paragas as producer with Cecilia Mejia, Orian Williams, Rey Cuerdo and Co-Producer Jeremiah Abraham. Yellow Rose is supported by New York-based Asian CineVision, Cinematografo Originals (ABS-CBN Global), and was awarded the Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant last year by the New York Women in Film & Television.
Yellow Rose premieres at 7 pm on May 2 at the Aratani Theatre at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC) in Little Tokyo in Downtown Los Angeles. The LAAPFF is presented by the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center Visual Communications. The full LAAPFF lineup will be announced on April 1.
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| Both Eva Noblezada, left, and Tony award winning Lea Salonga starred on Broadway in Miss Saigon. |
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