The AMC Plaza Bonita movie theaters, nestled inside a South Bay Westfield shopping mall, holds special significance for two of the featured filmmakers at this year’s San Diego Filipino Film Festival (SDFFF). Luke Lace worked his first job at the old Sun Diego clothing store in the same mall, while Jonathan De Guzman II recalls grabbing a bite at the food court before heading inside the theaters as a kid.
"I feel like a lot of my filmmaking journey has been rooted in (my) identity coming from southeast San Diego," Lace said. “A lot of the characters and stories that I resonate with come from people who have had to hustle as a part of their challenge to adversity.”
De Guzman, now working in Los Angeles, says San Diego remains an integral part of his artistic identity. “It feels really awesome to be coming back to my hometown. That's where I grew up, and that's where my community is," he said. "My community has really laid a strong foundation to who I am, not just as a person, but as an artist."
Marissa Roxas, another featured filmmaker, grew up in the Carmel Mountain area and still lives in San Diego. Having volunteered at SDFFF for the past three years, this is her first time as a filmmaker on the festival’s lineup.
"It's very special to me. It's home,” Roxas said. “Benito (Bautista) and Emma (Francisco), the co-directors and founders of the nonprofit San Diego Filipino Cinema (and SDFFF), are my mentors in many ways.”
Despite growing up surrounded by a vibrant Filipino American community, representation was missing from the screens Lace, De Guzman, and Roxas loved.
"I always noticed there was a lack of Asian American Pacific Islander stories, and I always felt that growing up as a kid and just being in love with American cinema," De Guzman said. "You never see any Asians on (screen) — it affects you."
Lace echoed the sentiment and noted the lack of mentorship for people like him in the industry. “I'm like the only person from Morse High School to have gotten into a top film school program,” he said. "I feel like I'm pioneering a path where there was nobody before me to give me any tips on how to do what I do."
Now, the three creators are stepping up to change that.
"There are a lot of stories that are visually really cool, but I think we're in a space where we can diversify them," Lace said.
“I've always been proud to be Filipino, but, I feel like (my involvement) within the community has been a more recent development,” Roxas said. “And that is in large part due to San Diego Filipino Cinema.”
Representation is tangibly reflected in their short films. De Guzman’s "Best Fiends" explores a Gen Z friendship teetering on the edge as the characters address their vaping addiction. Lace’s "Fidel" follows a teenager who becomes the caregiver of his abusive grandmother, only to be mistaken for her newlywed husband. Roxas’ "You + Me Will Always Be Back Then" reimagines a love story set in San Diego to AJ Rafael’s song, "When We Say (Juicebox)," from a queer woman’s perspective.
These films don’t stray far from reality — though there are some plot twists. They focus on characters who reflect real people and real experiences.
"Only recently we've been starting to see more not just Asian American but Filipino American in mainstream media," Roxas said. “Yes, of course I saw TFC (The Filipino Channel) when I'm at my grandma's house, but I don't speak the language.”
"There are communities and people who want their stories to be told," Lace said. "We have to constantly be reminding people of the value of our stories. Especially coming from a place where our stories haven't been told yet. I'm so passionate about pushing for these things."
Lace’s "Fidel" is a fictional story rooted in personal experiences. While inspired by his time as a caretaker for his grandmother, the film is a reimagined narrative, named after his late uncle. Shot in his childhood home in San Diego, it explores themes of family and loss.
"What was so interesting to me is how a person's passing or like the lack of someone's presence can loudly affect a quiet family," Lace said. "I was just thinking, though my memories of my grandma are pretty intense, I know for a fact that my grandpa absolutely loved and adored my grandma. How can I reimagine her and honor her?”
For De Guzman, representation is about reflecting his Gen Z identity and how that colors his storytelling.
"I just like to point out the nuances that just make our generation so funny and also what's relatable," De Guzman said. "It just comes natural. A lot of filmmakers have their own niche of what their storytelling is like, and I feel like mine definitely comes from my point of view as being a Filipino American who is Gen Z in America.”
Roxas’ film is an ode to San Diego and her own love life.
"To premiere a film that I wrote and directed, that was shot on location here in San Diego — my whole cast is Filipino American, and the majority of my crew is Filipino American and also from San Diego — it just means so much to me. It's very close to my heart,” Roxas said.
The filmmakers will be at the festival throughout this week — two of them returning to their stomping grounds in Plaza Bonita.
"It's more practical to write about a Filipino family, because that's what I know," Lace said.
And it’s through what they know that these filmmakers are carving out a new chapter for Filipino American stories on screen.
All three shorts will screen at AMC Plaza Bonita; "Fidel" is showing on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 4:30 p.m.; "Best Fiends" and "You + Me Will Always Be Back Then" are showing on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m., respectively.
