Through a trip back to his father's village in the Philippines, half-Filipino/ half-White aspiring filmmaker Andrew Orticio documents his journey of discovering his own identity and what it means to be Asian-American.
About The Story
Andrew and Ed are both 21 year-old first generation Asian-Americans (emphasis on the dash), and they've struggled with their own identities and the idea of not being 'Asian enough' or 'White enough' for their whole lives. As college juniors, they are constantly kept up at night with the ever-so-common question of 'what am I going to do with my life?' which is only exacerbated by the ongoing question of 'who am I?' This documentary is an attempt to answer the latter, in hopes to answer the former.
About The Film
Through a trip back to his father’s village in the Philippines, self-tapes and narration, and difficult yet necessary conversations with his extended family, siblings, and parents in both the Philippines and the United States, Andrew attempts to understand what it means to be mixed. Andrew’s identity, since its inception, has been a confusing blend of cultural, familial, religious, and personal norms. By the end of his trip, and the end of this documentary, Andrew will find answers to the mental health issues that come with feeling dissociated from one’s identity, why he, specifically, feels so connected to one half of his identity, what creates happiness for himself there, and what creates happiness there in general.
Andrew and Ed will conduct sit-down interviews with both sides of his family, capture cinema verite footage of the Filipino lifestyle, and turn the camera on themselves to document their raw feelings of what they're learning- both about others, and themselves.
Meet The Crew
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Director: Andrew Orticio
Andrew is a half-White/ half-Filipino filmmaker at the University of Texas at Austin. He prides himself in telling stories that revolve around the quintessential human conditions: growing up, falling in love, and coming to terms with one’s identity. Andrew has spent his college years running Dorm Room Dimes, his vintage clothing shop, hosting Tragicomic, his own podcast, as well as interning for Richard Linklater’s Detour Filmproductions. He recently directed his own short film, Falling, last fall.
DP: Ed Kim
Ed Kim is a Korean-American 3rd-year RTF major at the University of Texas at Austin. Originally from Houston, Ed is chasing a career in the media industry producing music videos and other creative content. Over the past summer, he worked as a content creator for Picky Wicky, a Korean food and media company in New York City. Last fall, he produced, directed, and edited a music video for a local Austin artist.
How Your Donation Will Be Used
There is no other way around it; making films is expensive, especially when you're shooting in a foreign country. Your donation would help make two college kids' dreams come true by allowing them to share a story they are truly passionate about. Our main expenses are:
- Flight tickets from the U.S. to the Philippines
- Hotel x 14 days
- Car Rental & Gas x 14 days
- Food x 14 days
- Camera, Lighting, and Sound Equipment
- Festival Submissions
Our Timeline
January 1 - February 14: Story conception, consultations with faculty and industry professionals, launch of crowdfunding campaign.
February 14 - March 12: Organization outreach, promotional materials, grant applications
March 12 - April 27: Completion of pre-production materials: shooting schedules, shot lists/ set ups, list of subjects
April 27 - May 13: Philippines travel dates/ shoot dates
May 13 - December 31: Post-production and distribution
Other Ways To Help
We are beyond thankful for anyone that can donate, whether that be $5 or $500. All donations would be exponentially helpful and critically useful in the production of our film. However, if you can't at this time, our biggest mission with this project is to spread our message with the masses. Reposting an instagram post or sharing this Indiegogo campaign with friends and family would be sincerely appreciated!
Impact/ Goals
Although this documentary will be through an intimately personal lens, the overall narrative is something that resonates with many different people, if not everyone. The question of ‘who am I,’ is one that is truly old as man. People of mixed ethnicities struggle with this question, first generation Americans have issues connecting with their ‘home countries,’ and my immediate community of college students or college-aged students often contemplate how they’re supposed to know what they’re doing with their lives when they don’t even know who they are. While this may be a theme/ question that is explored in many pieces of narrative fiction, I haven’t seen many non-fiction documentaries from someone of my age discovering their identity. A documentary about figuring out who one is at the time where they question it most, college, is something that can be very beneficial and resonate with audiences everywhere, and opens up many difficult yet necessary conversations between people of all backgrounds.
- Fund the documentary completely through crowdfunding & grants
- Get officially selected to at least one film festival
- Define our own identities in a way that can resonate with the masses
thank you and bahala na,
Andrew and Ed
