FAHM Film Syllabus
A collection of films about Filipinx-American history — all of which are available to stream.
Maybe you're already deeply familiar with Larry Itliong. Or maybe you've never heard of him before. Each, I think, is equally possible. Filipino-American histories aren't widely taught, at least not in any of the U.S. public schools I attended. But a few years ago, I started pulling at the threads, and now it's become impossible for me to stop.
Hungrily, I collect resources, names, and documents—artifacts of a history of which I am a product but was, until very recently, enormously ignorant. Recollections of war and waves of immigration, of generational struggle and excellence against all odds. The novel triumphs and enduring conflicts that are intrinsic to the experience of living as both a Filipino and an American at once. Most of the time, I file away my findings into private folders or integrate them into my work, but when I come across a film that speaks to the history of this intertwined identity, I share it urgently.
Film has a way of granting flesh and bone to our understanding of history, especially if that history is new to you. It resurrects sidelined heroes, villains, and victims, rendering them alive on tape. It preserves the timbre of someone's voice and the pauses between their words, the moments they chose to be careful or emphatic. It reflects back the little human nuances that remind us that we are history, too.
Below is a collection—part syllabus, part playlist—of (mostly documentary) films that have challenged and expanded my appreciation for Filipino-American history, a history rich with activism, artistry, and a firm belief in the power of people. I hope they do the same for you.
Unit 1 — The Jeepney
More than a colorful vehicle for public transportation, the jeepney is a connective object between the Philippines and the United States. Originally vehicles of war, enterprising Filipinos converted the military jeeps left over by the United States after World War II into a symbol of idiosyncratic Filipino culture and art.
These films investigate, through their shared fascination with the jeepney, how American culture was first introduced in the Philippines, how it has been transformed and, to a degree, indigenized, and how it still persists and exerts itself today.
MABABANGONG BANGUGOT / PERFUMED NIGHTMARE (1977)
DIRECTOR KIDLAT TAHIMIK
Runtime: 01:34:00
JEEPNEY (2013)
DIRECTOR ESY CASEY
Runtime: 00:59:59
Unit 2 – ‘Benevolent Assimilation’
In 1898, Spain and the United States signed a treaty ending the Spanish-American War, which not only ceased fighting between the two nations, but signed sovereignty over Spain's colonies (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines) to the United States. What followed in the Philippines was a foreign policy U.S. President William McKinley called "benevolent assimilation," enforcing a strategy of cultural colonization under the assumption of Western supremacy.
The following films explore various elements of that strategy from a constellation of vantage points, a mix of documentaries that examine the paternalistic policy with the clarity of hindsight and commercially-produced films that function as examples of the savior complex and arms-length tourist mentality that sprung forth from it.
SAVAGE ACTS: WARS, FAIRS AND EMPIRE 1898-1904 (2006)
DIRECTOR PENNEE BENDER, JOSHUA BROWN, ANDREA ADES VASQUEZ
Runtime: 00:30:00
MANILA: QUEEN OF THE PACIFIC (1938)
DIRECTOR ANDRE DE LA VARRE
Runtime: 00:10:52
THE BIG PICTURE: BATTLE OF MANILA, 1945 (1959)
PRODUCED BY U.S. ARMY PICTORIAL CENTER
Runtime: 00:28:38
BONTOC EULOGY (1995)
DIRECTOR MARLON FUENTES AND BRIDGET YEAREN
Runtime: 00:56:39
PHILIPPINES: PEARL OF THE ORIENT (1955)
PRODUCED BY THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
Runtime: 00:21:21
FORGOTTEN WARRIORS (2009)
PRODUCTION DIANA DIROY
Runtime: 00:09:57
Unit 3 — The Manong Generation
The manong generation refers to the wave of young, single Filipino men who immigrated to the United States in the early 1900s. They mostly worked agricultural jobs—on farms, in tanneries, at factories—in California, Hawaii, and Alaska, sometimes moving from town to town as growing seasons began and ended. Because few Filipina women were granted immigration status and U.S. anti-miscegenation laws were still very much intact, most of the manongs lived as bachelors their entire lives. But while the manongs' story is replete with strife, these Filipino-American men also led some of the most influential and triumphant labor organizing efforts in U.S. history.
The following films bring vitality and humanity to this generation's important contributions to American society.
DOLLAR A DAY, 10 CENTS A DANCE (1984)
DIRECTOR MARK SCHWARTZ
Runtime: 00:29:18
DELANO MANONGS (2014)
DIRECTOR MARISSA AROY
Runtime: 00:26:50
MANONG (1978)
DIRECTOR LINDA MABALOT
Runtime: 00:28:31
LITTLE MANILA: FILIPINOS IN CALIFORNIA’S HEARTLAND (2013)
DIRECTOR MARISSA AROY
Runtime: 00:26:46
THE FALL OF THE I-HOTEL (1983)
DIRECTOR CURTIS CHOY
Runtime: 00:58:47
A SPACE ON SIXTH AND MISSION (2017)
DIRECTOR RJ LOZADA
Runtime: 00:12:17
HOW SAN FRANCISCO ERASED A NEIGHBORHOOD (2020)
PRODUCED BY VOX MEDIA
Runtime: 00:14:55
Unit 4 — Cultural Innovators and Pioneers
No people's history is defined solely by its suffering, especially not Filipino-Americans. Below is a small collection of inspiring film documentation of Fil-Am excellence. There's June and Jean Millington, two Filipina sisters from Sacramento who helmed the first all-female rock band long before The Runaways. Pacita Abad, who developed a three-dimensional trapunto painting technique that's influenced artists for decades. And of course, Chad Hugo probably needs no introduction for shaping the sound of the 2000s (and beyond) alongside Pharrell Williams.
FANNY ON BEAT-CLUB (1972)
Runtime: 00:57:20
GIRL IN A BAND (2015)
DIRECTOR DIANE NEWTON
Fanny Segment Runtime: 00:09:46-00:13:15
FANNY (2011)
DIRECTOR MARY PATIERNO
Runtime: 00:05:07
JOE BATAAN ON HOW HE STARTED TO COMPOSE MUSIC (2011)
DIRECTOR RJ LOZADA
Runtime: 00:03:23
JOE BATAAN ON TOPPOP (1980)
Runtime: 00:04:25
JOE BATAAN: MR. NEW YORK IS BACK!
Runtime: 02:54:00
SUGAR PIE DE SANTO AT THE AMERICAN FOLK BLUES FESTIVAL (1965)
Runtime: 00:03:53
THE NEPTUNES: THE EIGHTH PLANET (2003)
DIRECTOR JASON GOLDWATCH
Runtime: 00:24:18
PACITA ABAD: WILD AT ART (1991)
DIRECTOR KAVERY KAUL
Runtime: 00:07:17
GROOVY: THE COLORS OF PACITA ABAD (2005)
DIRECTOR MILO SOGUECO
Runtime: 01:04:23
VICKI MANALO DRAVES AT THE 1948 SUMMER OLYMPICS
Runtime: 00:02:37 / 00:02:46
ULAM: MAIN DISH (2018)
DIRECTOR ALEXANDRA CUERDO
Runtime: 01:19:00
UNIT 5 — Living History
The recounting of history should not imply a finish line. The way we experience today has as much to do with what happened yesterday as it does the long ripples of choices made hundreds of years ago. Watched with the films of the preceding units in mind, the following, more contemporary stories are meant to represent that idea.
These stories illustrate some of the different ways in which the relationship between the United States and the Philippines continues to have a profound impact on individual lives, from military presence and labor force dynamics to the notions and implementations of freedom and democracy.
LEFT BY THE SHIP (2010)
DIRECTOR EMMA ROSSI LANDI AND ALBERTO VENDEMMIATI
Runtime: 01:19:15
CALL HER GANDA (2018)
DIRECTOR PJ RAVAL
Runtime: 01:37:00
WHY THE US HAS SO MANY FILIPINO NURSES (2020)
PRODUCED BY VOX MEDIA
Runtime: 00:11:07
THE CLEANERS (2018)
DIRECTOR HANS BLOCK AND MORITZ RIESEWIECK
Runtime: 01:28:00
A THOUSAND CUTS (2020)
DIRECTOR RAMONA DIAZ
Runtime: 01:50:00
WHY IS YELLOW AT THE MIDDLE OF THE RAINBOW? (1994)
DIRECTOR KIDLAT TAHIMIK
Runtime: 02:50:09
LINGUA FRANCA (2020)
DIRECTOR ISABEL SANDOVAL