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Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) in DreamWorks Animation\u2019s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado. <\/p>\n
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The story is packed with Filipino mythological creatures that Jo and Raissa encounter when they are transported to the magical island of Nakali during their last night together before Raissa departs for America. I was familiar with many of these beings through stories told by my grandmother such as the duwende, tiny spirits that inhabit many of the areas we walk, to others I had never heard of like the kapre, giant tree-like creatures. The great thing is that you don\u2019t have to be Filipino to connect with this film. Its heart is the friendships and memories that keep people close and connected \u2013 which encapsulates much of the Filipino diaspora experience.<\/p>\n
According to the U.S. Census Bureau\u2019s 2020-2024 American Community Survey, about 4.6 million respondents identified their ethnicity as Filipino. The Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area is home to more than half a million people of Filipino descent including 154,000 in Los Angeles city and about 27,000 in Long Beach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the film is set in the Philippines during the 1990s, it intentionally speaks to the Filipino diaspora experience, including the sacrifices that often accompany leaving your motherland for another place \u2013 something that immigrants and children of immigrants can relate to all in the backdrop of Filipino folklore and mythology.<\/p>\n
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(from left) Raissa (Liza Soberano) and Jo (H.E.R.) in DreamWorks Animation\u2019s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.\n <\/p>\n
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Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation <\/p>\n
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In the trailer<\/a>, Raissa says \u201cThese are our memories,\u201d to which Jo responds, \u201cAnd we are going home.\u201d The film connects remembering with belonging and brings up the question of what \u201chome\u201d really means. That is why many Los Angeles area Filipino community organizations and Filipino American student associations at universities are rallying people to the theater this weekend when the film opens nationwide on Friday.\u00a0<\/p>\n For any film, especially one that features an underrepresented community in general, the first box office weekend is crucial to show a strong attendance and audience interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n Los Angeles based non-profit Cinema Sala is teaming up with Filipinx in Entertainment (FXE) to conduct Operation \u201cStormTheBoxOffice<\/a>\u201d for the film because \u201cit is about proving that there is an audience for the Philippine diaspora. And that\u2019s one of our biggest missions,\u201d said Mallorie Ortega, co-founder and vice president of Cinema Sala. \u201cIt is proving that there is an audience hungry for our stories and that the industry should continue to say yes to us. So that\u2019s why it was so important to organize our community and to sell out theaters.\u201d<\/p>\n Manang (Lea Salonga) in DreamWorks Animation\u2019s Forgotten Island, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado.\n <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy of DreamWorks Animation<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n SoCal Filipinos, a non-profit network of Filipinos in Southern California, is also organizing screening events.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs SoCal Filipinos, we want to support events, artists and films. We decided to do a buyout of a theater. The response was amazing. We sold out of our auditorium in 30 minutes,\u201d said founder Jason Lustina. The group bought out a theater<\/a> at the AMC at the Grove.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to show Hollywood, film makers, directors and producers that Filipino stories matter and that our stories are relatable not to just Filipinos but to everyone,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re Filipino whether in the Philippines or part of the diaspora you\u2019ll for sure relate to it. From the characters to the scenes including the Filipino party it was like seeing a piece of our upbringing on the big screen,\u201d Lustina said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leaving doesn\u2019t mean forgetting<\/p>\n Jennifer Adriatico-Westad knew she wanted to see it as soon as she learned that the story was set in the Philippines and incorporated Filipino culture and folklore. This past weekend, she caught an early screening at AMC Universal CityWalk.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought it portrayed Filipino culture in a way that felt recognizable without making the culture itself feel like something that needed to be explained every few minutes. Filipino culture was simply part of the characters\u2019 lives, which I appreciated,\u201d she said. \u201cFor me, that also speaks about the diaspora experience. When families leave the Philippines, they don\u2019t leave everything behind. They carry traditions, food, religion, humor, superstitions, folklore, family expectations, and even small mannerisms with them. Those things are then passed from one generation to the next. I think that experience translates across many cultures.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who leave their home countries in search of new opportunities often carry pieces of home with them. In this story, Filipino culture happens to be at the center\u2026and it\u2019s about time!\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Ortega, \u201cForgotten Island\u201d dives even deeper than just representation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cImagine there\u2019s a part of your life that no one could ever understand\u2026It\u2019s not as simple as saying, \u2018I feel seen when I watch this movie.\u2019 It\u2019s literally like my body is telling me, I belong,\u201d Ortega said. \u201cWhat is so important and impactful about this film for our community and for anyone who feels it \u2013\u00a0 there\u2019s something about me that no one else could ever understand. This is what it is fulfilling for us. This is meant for us to feel like we belong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The people and memories we carry<\/p>\n My family immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in the late 1950s and early 60s \u2013 first stopping in Compton, then Inglewood and eventually settling in Carson. Unlike most families, my family could not make regular annual trips back to The Philippines once they immigrated because money was tight while settling into a new life in an entirely new country. So they stayed connected with extended family by sending balikbayan boxes<\/a> (filled with dry goods, gifts) usually around the holidays. However there\u2019s a certain grief being separated by an ocean and once close relationships inevitably change. But what has kept the connections alive is remembering the family and community that continues to shape how we survive even if they are far away. That was confirmed to me when I went to the Philippines for the first time in 2008.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leezel Tanglao\u2019s uncle, Oscar Guzman (far left), in front of the house he rented in Inglewood in the late 1950s and early 1960s. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Leezel Tanglao <\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n The LA Local<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n As a Filipino American born in Long Beach and raised in Lancaster and Carson, I had only heard stories about my mom and my aunts and uncles growing up in this far away land. What little I knew about the Philippines came from them and the old Tagalog movies they would rent from the local Filipino grocery store. So when I went to the Philippines for the first time nearly 20 years ago, I finally understood the heavy feeling and unspoken uncertainty of not knowing when we would see each other again in person. That is what \u201cForgotten Island\u201d packs and unpacks so seamlessly and reminds us. Remembering isn\u2019t limited to holidays or when someone passes away. Memories are always alive when we care and take the time to remember.<\/p>\n The next time I would return to the Philippines would be more than a decade later in 2019, and this time, I was much older and wiser to not take time for granted. Some of the family members I saw back in 2008 were no longer there but their memories were as strong as if they were still alive today when we sat down to share stories. I would return two more times in 2022 and 2023 and during one of these last trips, one of my uncles had died while I was away. One of the last things my uncle Oscar had told my mom was that he couldn\u2019t wait to hear what I ate during my time in the motherland and he was excited to just imagine all the flavors and smells of home when I returned \u2013 that\u2019s what memories have the power to do \u2013 to unlock and transport you to another time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leezel Tanglao and her uncle Oscar Guzman in Carson, California. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Leezel Tanglao <\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n The LA Local <\/p>\n )<\/p>\n So when the film, \u201cForgotten Island\u201d opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, it\u2019s not just a celebration of Filipino culture or representation. It\u2019s a reminder that not even distance can separate the bonds of community when memories are handled with care and also invites you to, \u201ctayo na\u201d (let\u2019s go) and make more memories together.<\/p>\n The post Leaving home doesn\u2019t mean letting go<\/a> appeared first on LA Local<\/a>.<\/p>\n ![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790280969_828_.jpeg\")
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