Celebrating Filipino American History Month with HBO Visionaries Finalist, Maritte Go

Dear Editor,

October is Filipino American History Month, and it’s more important than ever to make sure our voices and stories are heard. In the entertainment industry, #AsianAugust was a huge success and shows Hollywood that Asian Americans need to be represented on screen.

In the past couple of years, HBO has been pioneering this opportunity and giving up-andcoming directors a chance to share their Asian American stories through the HBO Asian Pacifi c American Visionaries Short Film Competition, an initiative that seeks to lead new conversations about diversity and representation. Last year’s third place finalist is Filipino American, Maritte Go.

Go (“Remittance”) is a Filipino-American filmmaker who attended USC as a graduate student with a Masters in Film and TV Production. Inspired by her immigrant family’s experiences, “Remittance” tells the story of a Filipino cruise worker who receives a call informing her that her son is in the hospital. Maritte’s film is available to stream on HBO’s on-demand and digital platforms (i.e. HBO NOW®, HBO GO®)

With the call for entries closing soon, HBO is encouraging directors to submit their films for the third annual Asian Pacific American Visionaries Short Film Competition. The contest will award three directors the opportunity to have their work showcased on HBO as well as cash prizes. For this year’s competition, HBO is seeking innovative storytellers whose works reflect the modern Asian Pacific American experience. Visit www.hbovisionaries. com for complete rules and guidelines. All submissions are due by Wednesday, November 14 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

We hope you’ll share this news with the community. We defi – nitely want to see more of the community’s stories on the big screen! If you have any questions about the upcoming competition or would like to interview Maritte, please contact me at Emily.jitsmasa@iwgroupinc. com.

Best,

Emily Jitsumasa

Engagement activator and motivator

IW Group

 

Dear Editor,

Happy Filipino American History Month!! We are less than 3 weeks way from the mid-term elections! Immigrants and refugees continue to come under attack under this administration. AFIRE staff have been at Seafood City every week meeting immigrants and undocumented folks who are afraid of what may happen.

One of the ways I see us making an impact in this time is to mobilize our community to vote. While this is only one tactic, amongst many, I believe its a powerful tool in our toolbox of social change. Since AFIRE’s founding, we have helped over 2,000 Filipinxs become U.S. citizens! Now, we have to get those people to vote!

We need your help. We need YOU on the phones, speaking to our own community about voting in November. Thanks to ICIRR we have a civic engagement fellow who is helping us door knock in neighborhoods. But we still need YOU on the phones reaching out and connecting with Filipinx/AAPI voters.

We are starting phone banking next week on October 22nd in our offi ce at the Hana Center. Acie Roxas, our Community Organizer, will be coordinating volunteers. The phone banks are in the evening Tues-Thurs and we will provide the dinner! My ask is that you are able to volunteer for at least ONE phone bank shift. Bring a friend, bring a family member, bring your lola, everyone is welcome! If you can’t volunteer, we would love a DONATION to support our continued work. Please use the link below to sign-up and volunteer.

Salamat po!

Michael Aguhar

Afire Chicago