Statement:
Living for about four years in Japan, one Filipina has grown quite tired of the “random” questioning of the immigration police who inquire about her visa status. One day, she gets off at Shinagawa train station (the stop closest to the city’s busiest immigration office) to conduct a small social experiment. This one-time performance/experiment was constrained by the use of a single roll of 8mm film which runs for only three minutes.
A part of a series of work on space vis-à-vis mobility, the short film documents an instance of surveillance of foreigners in nothing but an ordinary day in Japan. It emphasizes that the everyday life of a migrant IS a performance. The foreign space accommodates or rejects, and as the “visitor,” you “perform” roles so that the space receives you (well).
Project Details: 3min, Experimental Documentary
Selected Exhibits/Installations:
2011, November. Society for Visual Anthropology Film and Media Festival, American Anthropological Association (Ultra Short category), Montreal, Canada.
2011, September. Asian Hot Shots (Experimental Shorts). Berlin, Germany.
2011. Videoarte en Filipinas: Video en identidad cultural en Filipinas: 1999-2009, CaixaForum, Barcelona, Spain.
“The Visual as Research Material: Documenting Spaces and Everyday Performances in Filipino International Migration.” Department of Cultural Anthropology, University of Tokyo
Outsider Cinema from the Philippines. Union Center for the Arts, Los Angeles, California, Aug. 15. 2009. http://www.vconline.org/outsider-cinema-from-the-philippines.cfm. With Khavn dela Cruz, John Torres, Raya Martin
Official Selection: Indio Bravo Film Festival, Visual Arts Theater, New York City, June 13, 2009.
2008. Film showing (with live musical accompaniment) at the Downtown Independent Theater, Los Angeles, United States.
Awards:
ALAB: Ten Best Student Shorts, ACTIVE VISTA FILM FESTIVAL, Robinsons Galleria IndieSine, November 29, 2008.
In Competition, Documentary Category, 20th GAWAD CCP PARA SA ALTERNIBONG PELIKULA AT VIDEO, for screening on Nov. 21, 2008
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