Kauai celebrates Filipino American History Month with documentary screenings

Hawaii's Filipinos joined the US military to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation.

In observance of Filipino American History Month, the Kauai Philippine Cultural Center and Kukui Grove Center co-host the Garden Island Film Festival that will screen two documentaries.

The GIFF is screening two films about Filipinos by Kauai filmmaker Stephanie J. Castillo at Kukui Grove Center on Wednesday, Oct. 23, starting at 6 p.m. Castillo is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker with Kauai family roots.

Both showings are free.

6 p.m. – “An Untold Triumph: America’s Filipino Soldiers” The story of the 1st and 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiments, US Army (2006, 82 minutes).

During World War II, 7,000 Filipino Americans volunteered their services to the U.S. Army and helped liberate their homeland from Japanese occupation. Director Noel M. Izon captures their stories through the voices of the veterans themselves, most of them gone now, and delivers touching personal accounts of the men’s contributions and sacrifices during the war. Despite the fact that they endured a bleak, racist prewar climate and were not even considered U.S. citizens, these individuals rallied to join the war effort and cement their rightful place in American history.

7:30 p.m. “Remember the Boys, A Story of Hawaii Filipino Soldiers in World War II” (2007, 30 minutes)

“Remember the Boys” poignantly captures the inspiring, true story of a chaplain to his war buddies. Born in Hawaii, Domingo Los Banos was a US World War II soldier who went to war in the Philippines as a teenager with some 50 other teenagers of Filipino ancestry from Hawaii.

The two documentaries were created by Castillo, who is based on Kauai. A former journalist and an EMMY Award-winning independent filmmaker, she has been developing television documentaries since 1989. 

Her many awards include an Emmy Award, 3 CINE Golden Eagles, a Tele Award, two Best awards at the Hawaii International FIlm Festival, a Progress Award from the Hawaii United Filipino Council, and a Pamana Arts Legacy Award in recognition of her contribution to the Filipino American community through the 1992 documentary "An Untold Triumph. a history of AIDS."

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