COVID booster rates remain low as new variants emerge

S1: The latest variants and boosters for COVID 19.

S2: We haven't even seen the primary series of vaccines used adequately.

S1: I'm Jade Hindman with Maureen CAVANAUGH. This is KPBS Midday edition. San Diego is closer to mandating organic recycling.

S2: People say it's the biggest change to recycling in California in 30 years. It requires cities to either collect themselves or force their their haulers to collect greenways , which is yard trimmings and food.

S1: We dive into what makes a terrific taco. And Beth ACCOMANDO previews the Filipino Film Festival. That's ahead on Midday Edition. The number of people who have been vaccinated with the Macron specific booster shot remains low across the country , and at the same time , new variants of COVID 19 are emerging. This week , Los Angeles officials announced they detected a few cases of a new variant B , a 2.75.2. It's one that Dr. Anthony Fauci has called suspicious. Joining me to talk about all things COVID 19 , as he does every other week , is Dr. Eric Topol , director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Hoya. And , Dr. Topol , welcome back.

S2: Thanks very much. Great to be with you again.

S1: Let's start by talking about this variant , 2.75.2 that's been detected very close to us in Los Angeles.

S2: As large number shows , that has more immune. Decoy effects escape than the ones that we've seen already , like B5 five , the way we just got through. But it's not as concerning as one that's starting to get rooted here in the U.S. and in many countries in Europe. That one is called BQ .1.1 and you're hearing a lot more of that one because it is the worst one we've seen for immune escape. And there's a concern that it'll make further dents in our vaccine protection. So that's why it's really important to get as much protection as you can right now , because it's not only about the the variants that are out there , which fortunately are in lower numbers than they have been. But what's on the move right now , A significant wave in Europe and undoubtedly one that we're going to be confronting here in the U.S. in the weeks ahead.

S1:

S2: We don't have much data on how the magnitude of efficacy for the Bay five variant with respect to not just that particular variant , but these new ones that are cropping up like the one you mentioned and the one that is of principal concern that could take over a large part of the world like Bay five did. So we don't have data for that. We have some lab data from a couple of labs around the world who have been trying to stay ahead of this. And it looks like it's going to be a challenge that the vaccines like we've seen don't do great for protecting from infections and spread , but they help preserve that high level of protection from severe disease , hospitalizations , deaths and also long COVID. So the rationale for these boosters is not that we're going to have a great job in preventing infections , but just keeping people out of the hospital , keeping them very sick , helping to reduce the toll of long COVID. Those are the real objectives for the booster.

S1: You know , today the FDA okayed the booster for elementary school aged kids. The CDC still needs to sign off on it.

S2: And it's disappointing because the net data shows that it has protective effect. In fact , in the youngest children , the infection protection is pretty good and that would help with things like school outbreaks. The benefits , of course , are less striking than in people who are older over age 50 or 60. But the booster is going to be tricky because we haven't even seen the primary series of vaccines used adequately in this country. So getting a booster in the small proportion , the minority of kids , it would help. But we just have to do better vaccines across the board from six months where vaccines are approved all the way through to the oldest Americans.

S1: In regards to the possible winter surge. I want to talk about the current quarantine guidelines. The CDC says five days and if you're symptom free , you can end isolation. A new study out this week suggests that's not adequate.

S2: Well , after five days. And the only way to do this right is with rapid tests. As the study showed in an additional another paper this week. So this is one of the major flaws at CDC is to advocate a five day isolation with COVID. And then if you're feeling okay , go right back to work. The problem is you'll spread COVID , and that's not going to help us. And now and the people who get infected. So this is really , you know , one of the most striking deficiencies of our CDC not paying attention to the data. This isn't the first report of this issue of the five days being inadequate , but it's an impressive large one and it adds to others. And the CDC keeps ignoring this , which is so unfortunate.

S1:

S2: And also another study that was published in the New England Journal showed that the cultures of the virus are easy. That is , the infectiousness is very high unless people convert to a negative test. So if a person has no tests and goes out at five days , goes back to work or starts to get together with other people , the chance of infection spreading is high.

S1:

S2: If you have had COVID and you look start really after day five to be smart , maybe day six or seven , and you'd like to see two days of consecutive negative tests and then you're good to go. That would be the best practice. Typically , that's going to wind up being somewhere around day seven , eight or nine. Some people much longer , even now to 12 or 14. But the two consecutive days of negative rapid tests is the way to go.

S1:

S2: I mean , we have to try to guess that it's a convenient the fact that not everybody can get their hands on the rapid tests that they wanted should keep people in , in in work and in society. And there's an overall denial , of course , of the severity of COVID long COVID and infection chain of transmission. We keep seeing this theme from the CDC. Their transmission map is so different than their so-called community level map that they that they show. So they've tried to minimize the toll of COVID and the infectiousness , and this goes along with it.

S1: You recently wrote about the contrast in pandemic outcomes between Japan and the United States.

S2: And as you know , age is the single most important dominant factor for driving outcomes , particularly deaths after COVID. Now , that's 40% more than the U.S.. And what's interesting is the deaths in the in Japan are about one ninth , one ninth that is in the U.S. You have about one in 300 chance of dying from COVID. And of course , most of those 75% are in people over age 65 or 70. Whereas in Japan , it's one in 2800 chance of death. Now , the reasons for that , because , you know , we know there's less obesity in Japan , considerably less obesity , less diabetes , but that's not a big driver like age. And what's interesting is in Japan , they have much more use of masks still today. They intend to use masks indefinitely. Unlike in the U.S. , they have very little anti-science , anti-vax. They have an incredible culture of supporting each other , particularly the respect for elders. It's notable throughout the world that Japan looks after their elders in a way that's quite striking. So all the things about Japan versus the U.S. are quite impressive. They are the lowest death rate of any country in the world without lockdowns , without any significant restrictions. You could say China did better , but obviously they've had a zero-covid policy with multiple lockdowns through major cities throughout the pandemic still today , and they've had obviously draconian restrictions. So Japan did this with the right balance. They achieved the lowest deaths of any country in the world. And it's something that we can learn from. And so if we could simulate Japan going forward in this pandemic and future challenges of infectious disease , that would be terrific.

S1: I've been speaking with Dr. Eric Topol , director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Hoya. Dr. Topol , as always , thank you very much for joining us.

S2: Thanks so much.

S3: San Diego is one step closer to complying with a state law mandating organic recycling. New agreements were reached this week with the city's eight private trash haulers. The companies will move forward with additional equipment and personnel needed to outfit multifamily units with green recycling bins in a massive statewide climate action move. The law now requires cities to recycle lawn and food waste separately from other recyclables. If San Diego is not in compliance by January's deadline , it may face state ordered fines. Joining me is San Diego Union-Tribune reporter David Garrick. David , welcome.

S2: Thanks for having me.

S3: Remind us about the new state law , SB 1383 and what it requires cities to do.

S2: People say it's the biggest change to recycling California in 30 years. It requires cities to either collect themselves or force their haulers to collect green waste , which is yard trimmings and food. Because those things in landfills are creating methane gas , which is contributing to climate change. So the state wants the state cities to do that to help fight climate change.

S3: Now , this bill was signed back in 2016. It was supposed to start early this year.

S2: In a lot of places. This is a huge change , but it has been particularly bad in San Diego. I think it's because the city wasn't really doing any green waste recycling or hardly any. And so it's a whole ramp up. They have to buy new trucks , hire new drivers and come up with a whole new process. And they also have to force their private haulers to do the same thing.

S3:

S2: The city will get fined by the state , and then they'll pass those fines under the private haulers. That's sort of the number one hammer that's involved in the case.

S3:

S2: They're going to be more personnel. They're going to have to do more picking up and more sorting. The expectation is they will pass this onto customers in other parts of the state. The increases have ranged from 20 to 25% around that number in San Diego. It's going to be hard to say for sure if it'll be at that number because most cities have a monopoly where one trash hauler handles the trash. And in San Diego , they have this open competitive market. And so it's just a different dynamic.

S3: Now , you write that private haulers service 70% of the city's trash pickup. The city only handles 30%. And that's for single family homes. Do you think the new recycling program has influenced the move to consider fees for single family home trash pickup ? Of course , that's Measure B coming up on the November ballot.

S2: I'm certain that it has because I was at the public hearings where that was sort of part of the debate evolved out of a debate. The city spends $70 million a year on trash at single family homes , and they don't charge those people any money at all. And that number is going to sharply increase because now the city is going to have to instead just picking up trash and the blue recycle bin materials like bottles and cans. They're going to have to pick up the green waste , which means that cities expenses of of servicing these single family homes are going to go way up. And so it's just more of an impetus to try to reconsider this , you know , gift to single family homeowners of free trash pickup.

S3:

S2: And that's another issue here is that San Diego hasn't really built composting infrastructure that is necessary. They say that they're on the way to doing that and they plan to do that. And that's a common theme throughout the state , is that this law had a lot of ambitious requirements and goals that the state envisioned all these requirements , and they envision a composting system available throughout the state to handle this green waste. But that's not really in place yet. It'll it'll be coming throughout cities across the state.

S3: There is concern that the private trash haulers in San Diego have not been complying with commitments to recycle 50% of the recyclables that they've already been picking up.

S2: If one particular of the eight haulers is more responsible for the city not meeting its state goals , then that particular hauler will face a greater share of whatever fines get passed on.

S3:

S2: If you're if you live in a condo or an apartment or if you're a business owner , you're handled by a private hauler. And the new new agreement that was reached this week. Requires those private haulers to do education and outreach with their customers. So if you live in an apartment or condo , expect your private hauler , whether it's Ateco or Waste Management or Republic or one of the other callers to be sending you information soon about what you need to do to recycle your food and green waste.

S3: I've been speaking with San Diego Union Tribune reporter David Garrick. And David , thank you.

S2: Thanks for having me.

S3: This is KPBS midday edition. I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Heineman. San Diego may not be the home of the best cheesesteak or pastrami sandwiches in the U.S. , but when you start dropping our ranking on tacos , them's fighting words. A recent survey of best taco Cities in America had San Diego as number eight on the list , losing out to number one ranked Austin , Texas , and even Oklahoma City scoring higher on their taco meter. The list was compiled by a group calling itself Clever Real Estate , and it based its rankings on data which included the U.S. Census Community Survey and Yelp , and scored categories like the number of taco restaurants , the number of taco food trucks and something called Taco Passion. We did our own unscientific Taco Passion survey , and many KPBS listeners contributed their best loved tacos and cherished taco eateries. Here's KPBS producer Harrison Patino with some of what we heard.

S4: Tacos remind Carlsbad listener Kristin Richert of nighttime in Mexico , where neighbors and passersby gather for a quick meal at brightly illuminated street stands. Zeenat Barakat of Poway simply says that it's the perfect combination of flavors the cilantro , onions , avocado , protein , salsa and condiments all make for a fantastic blend for tacos. Alabaster. Listeners Erin Grady Brown and Roxanne Vasquez swear by the convoy's El Gordo if it's fish tacos. Christian Rodriguez swears by what's on offer at El Support Alabama and Chula Vista. Although plenty of listeners love the tacos at long standing San Diego based chain , Rubio's Ina Angelo says that anything from one to Belzer up as multiple locations is great. And for Tacos de Cabeza. Catalina Lopez says that it's got to be. And to the question , why do we love tacos ? Earning my copy of National City says , Is this a trick question ? Is that meant to be rhetorical ? Well , listener Antoine James has a not so rhetorical answer. Tacos are the greatest comfort food. He says tacos are healing.

S3: Joining me now to break down our love of all things , Taco is Gustavo Arellano , an author and columnist for the L.A. Times , as well as host of the ongoing Great Tortilla tournament. And Gustavo , welcome back to the show.

S2: GARCES As always for having me.

S3: So L.A. did a little bit better than San Diego on this dubious survey. Come in at number five.

S2: I wrote a book about the history of Mexican food in United States in 2012. Austin's taco scene is good. It's not as good as San Diego. Not even close. Oklahoma City , it's up and coming. It's nowhere near as good as Austin. So these listicles , frankly , they're fulfilling their purpose , which is getting people like you and I to argue about them , talk trash and other scenes. But I will not get into the taco bashing. And I would tell others , unless you've been there , you can also talk trash instead of talking trash of other taco scenes. Elevate your own taco scene.

S3: Fair enough.

S2: I mean , you get it with the meat. In other words , in Texas is you have a lot of what's called diesel stews. Flour tortillas are king. You also have breakfast tacos , especially in San Antonio. In Austin , at a breakfast taco is basically the Tex-Mex version of what we know in Southern California. The breakfast burrito , of course , you know , so beat and cheese being a rice , any combination. They have a small flour tortilla that is tacos. We as burritos and that here in Southern California , we love our carne asada. We love our fish tacos , our shrimp tacos , especially down in San Diego , so close to Baja. You also have regional tacos. So tacos from parts of Mexico where those folks migrate to Southern California in a way that they don't in Texas. And frankly , we just have more of that , which makes our scene that much better.

S3: You know , in this survey , there's no distinction made between soft and hard , crunchy tacos. Do you think Californians have a preference.

S2: Nowadays that soft tacos and soft tacos , just in case you don't even know what on earth that is ? A soft taco is now what most people just call a taco. In other words , a taco in a tortilla. The hard taco is going to be the in Spanish , we call them the tacos dorados fry tacos with the either prefabricated shell or made freshly. There is still a huge fan base for hard tacos in Southern California because this is where that style really first came into the United States. Start in Los Angeles with Cielito Lindo. You also had taquitos , of course , Alinea in San Diego. And then you had just the regular tacos that started spreading around. It's easy to make fun of them , but a good , hard shell taco. Oh , man. The crunch , the oil , the lettuce , the cheddar cheese. I need one right now.

S3: I am not making fun of them. Okay ? Never , ever , ever. One bright spot for San Diego in this listing or this compilation of listings is that Yelp named South Bay Taco Rhea , Ed Fernandez Restaurant , the top taco shop in the United States. And we also came in first for observing Taco Tuesdays.

S2: Algorithms. I have not been to South Dakota. I have to now. I'm very interested in that. But it's all algorithms , it's all hype. Look , you folks in San Diego know what your taco scene is like to the point of you calling them taco shops , like in Los Angeles. We don't call them taco shops , we call them Thackeray us. The big point that I always try to make when I talk about Mexican food is that we all have our distinct food scenes. A lot of us have not tried the food and other food scene. So when we hear about these , we immediately want to talk trash again. Don't hate until you've had it. So San Diego has amazing tacos. Los Angeles has amazing tacos. Stop the rivalry. We are taco cousins.

S3: Of course , though both San Diego and L.A. have some stiff competition right across the border in Baja.

S2: They're really one big , vast metropolitan area with the Juana. And so a lot of the modern day taco scene in San Diego and of course , Chula Vista , San Isidro , it's basically the Tijuana tacos. So you have that avocado salsa , almost like a guacamole , but spicy you have they don't call it Al Pastore So it's , you know , roasted pork on a spit. They call it out of bother. You have again , just a big , huge food scene influenced by Sinaloa. You have the love of flour tortillas that's also coming from Baja , the Sinaloa and Sonora. So in that sense , San Diego's tacos are distinctly different from what you have in Los Angeles. And on some days they are better than L.A. Tacos. I will say that.

S3: Finally , you've been hosting an ongoing tortilla tournament that looks to find the best homemade tortilla in southern California. Can you tell us a bit more about it and what you've learned so far ? Yes.

S2: So for NPR station KCRW , they'll be in Santa monica. For the past five years , I've done a tortilla tournament. It's exactly what it sounds like. 64 tortillas , 32 corn , 32 , flour broken up into four brackets , seeded of six. And it's like a sports style tournament. This year , we did what I called the San Diego Tortilla Tournament Invitational. I got eight corn tortillas , eight flour tortillas. I matched them up. The finalist in each category made it into the bigger tournament , El Indio , the legendary El Indio , with amazing corn tortillas. Oh , my gosh. I've never tasted corn tortillas like that. It made it into what we call the Sweet 16. We're going to continue to offer San Diego tortillas every year. So if the listeners have some tortillas I need to eat , please let me know because I am hungry.

S3: Which do you prefer ? A corner Flour.

S2: There's more diversity of flavor in flour , but if a corn tortillas nails that holy trinity of water , corn and lime , at least for me as a mexican , it taps into like this fundamental pride of being a mexican that extends thousands of years. I know I'm sounding metaphysical , but it's absolutely true. Like when you get that , you're like , No way can flour ever be corn , So give me corn. But then let me make a guess. I think with flour.

S3: I've been speaking with author and L.A. Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. Gustavo , thank you so much. Good eating. Gracias.

S2: Gracias.

S1: Now that Europe has reopened its doors to tourism , many eager , soon to be travelers are planning long awaited vacations across the continent. If this describes you , you might want to check out a new six hour series from Rick Steves called Art of Europe. The series starts with the Stone Age and ancient Greece and finishes with the modern age , telling stories about famous works of art , the artists that made them , and the history that inspired them. KPBS reporter Andrew Bohn spoke with Rick Steves about the new series and began by asking him why he wanted to focus a series on the art of Europe. Here's that conversation.

S2: Well , you know , all my life in my career , I've been teaching European travel , and a huge part of European travel is getting excited about the art. And way back when I was a college student , I was giving a six hour all day talk about European art and how to make it fun and meaningful. And over the last decades , I've written books and made apps and taken tours , all sort of designed to help people understand why we need to understand and appreciate and enjoy art. It's a big part of your travels , and I really found the more you bring to it , the more you get out of it and it should be fun. So we had the challenge of distilling the whole exciting story of European art from the prehistoric times to the Pantheon into six one hour programs. And it's been a two year project , and we've drawn on 20 years of shooting in the greatest galleries and palaces and museums around Europe. And it's for me , it's just so exciting as a tour guide and a travel teacher and an art enthusiast to finally have it available on public broadcasting.

S4: You mentioned you start with prehistory. Give us a brief outline of what areas of art and culture you'll be taking a look at.

S2: Well , the big challenge , Andrew , was to break it into six one hour segments. And I wanted to , you know , be concise and kind of have an overview and respect people's attention span. And we broke it into these 6 hours. And for a quick overview , the first hour is prehistoric through Egypt and ancient Greece. The next hour is a thousand years of Rome from 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.. The third hour is a thousand years of medieval history , from about 500 to 1500. Fourth hour is the Renaissance , and that's about 200 years from 1400 to 600 in very general terms. The fifth hour would be baroque , followed with neoclassical and then 1600 to the French Revolution or after that , around 1800. And then the final hour is the romantic movement right into the modern age , basically from 1850 or so until today. And the wonderful challenge and the tough challenge of deciding what should make the cut and then going to Europe and getting permission to get into all these amazing places and bring home the footage and lace it into this six hour story. And man , when I get to I've been sweeping through the shows just as we finish things up in the last month. And and I'm it's just so darn beautiful. The stuff we've made over the centuries and in European art is just so much fun to actually appreciate , enjoy and to understand.

S4: My husband and I just travelled to Europe this past summer and we waited in lines to see the David and Florence. We packed into this tight viewing area to see the Mona Lisa and Paris. And those works , of course , are beautiful. But I'm wondering what are some less famous works of art off the beaten path , so to speak , where the crowds might not be as intense and viewers might still really love them.

S2: Andrew The fact is American tourists all go to the same places , so it's no wonder. Mona Lisa is going to be packed and Michelangelo's David is going to be packed and the Sistine Chapel is going to be packed. And those are great sights , but there's plenty of opportunities to get off the beaten path. And what I like to do is find new artists that I didn't know. I was so excited about FRA Angelico. He's the greatest of the high middle age painters. And for him , you know , they say painting was a form of prayer and he couldn't paint a crucifix without weeping. There's some incredible , sensuous tapestries that came out of the late Middle Ages. One is called The Lady and the Unicorn , and it just celebrates people enjoying life and actually getting sensuous about things. And to see the smirks and the innuendo in the art from five or 600 years ago is amazing to know that art is propaganda and then to see it through the proper lens so you can imagine what was going on back then is just so much fun. And our challenge is not only to not just go to the most famous places , but to bring some understanding with us. People ask me , How can you ? You know what ? There's two things. How can you avoid the crowds and how can you save some money about saving money ? It's going to cost us all about the same to go into these palaces and galleries. But those who bring an understanding get triple the joy out of it. And as far as crowds go , the thing about COVID is it has taught Europe that they need to control crowds better. And they've got this situation where everybody wants to. Go to the same places. So the most crowded places are now by appointment only in general. And if you need to get a reservation , just do it. Do it in advance , and then you'll go to these places. And even though there are really famous Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper , for instance , they only allow a couple dozen people in at a time. And it's just available now for people who get that appointment in advance. But to answer your question , there are so many artists that we don't appreciate until we learn about them and until until we see them over there in their original situation. I just love finding a new artist that I didn't know I liked so much. You know , there's Mukha for the Art Nouveau , there's David for the French Revolution. Of course , there's Klimt in the modern age in Vienna , and it feels better to go home knowing a new artist. But it's just a lifelong challenge for us to understand and get turned on by the art. And that's what I'm excited about. This project that we've got Europe distilled into 6 hours so people can see that it's fun and it's meaningful , and the more you understand it , the more you'll enjoy it.

S4: Very useful tip there that I wish I had learned this summer to make reservations in advance , weeks in advance , perhaps even in some ways. I think art history is history itself. It's a documentation of what was happening at a given time and how people understood it back then. Tell me about how your series puts European works of art into an historical context.

S2: Well , that is the challenge , is to see it in its context , to be filled with wonder. I mean , you're going to see prehistoric cave paintings if you can go in there as if you're a prehistoric hunter with a torch under a dome of bison. I mean , you're going to just really find those big paintings flicker with life. If you can imagine what it's like to be a medieval peasant stepping from an existence of hunger and shivering and fear into a church and to be surrounded by the riches and the promise of a happy eternity , to see things in their context. You can imagine a pilgrim who's hiked for four weeks to get to a spot. And there he finally spots the Gothic spire on the horizon. You can imagine the joy , the the jubilation when he finally reaches his his destiny to remember that throughout most of history , people were ruled by divine monarchs who really , people believed were ordained by God to rule without question will to go into their palaces and let that propaganda just wow you. The hall of mirrors. You know , Louis , the 14th big hall at Versailles , it's just slathered in gold and it's a bigger collection of it slathered in gold leaf , and it's a bigger collection of mirrors than had ever been assembled. And to go there and to see it in the context of a person who really believed that God said , My king gets to rule me without question , and I'm just going to have to follow him. You just kind of go , Wow , my King really is amazing. He can grow oranges in Paris. Nobody else could , you know , just to understand the context , who paid for it and why. And that goes right across right across art history. Art transports us to other cultures to understand the triumph and the challenges and the purpose of all this art. That's been the joy for us. And to bring it home into this series. It's just for me , the teaching challenge and the rewarding project of a lifetime is to be able to celebrate this new series that we've spent two years making.

S4: Art is very subjective. I , for example , could look at Art Nouveau all day , but show me five Madonna and child paintings and I start to zone out pretty quickly.

S2: I mean , like , for instance , you like Art Nouveau. Well , that's a great thing to know ahead of time. Why not focus on Art Nouveau and make it a theme everywhere you go ? Remember , it's got a different name in different countries. And in Spain it's called modernism. You go to Barcelona and you'd see all the amazing architecture by guys like Gaudi , including the Sagrada Familia. You could go to the Czech Republic and you could enjoy Amazing Art Nouveau by Alphonse Mucha. You could go to Vienna and it's called a You can steal there. You could go to Scotland and you could enjoy Art Nouveau by Mackintosh there. It's important again to do your studying in advance , and I would just tell you it really rewards you. For me , the greatest galleries and the greatest museums are a kind of a reflection of who were the most powerful kings. I think my favorite collection of paintings anywhere in Europe is in Madrid. Why in Madrid ? Well , because four years ago , Madrid had the most powerful empire and the king in Madrid controlled so much of Europe. I mean , that's why the Netherlands were called the Spanish Netherlands. Back then , in much of my favorite Flemish and Dutch art happens to be in the Prado in Madrid. The Spanish king had enough power and money to get all the great art or so much great art. And of course , in Spain you've got great local artists. But I'll tell you , the more I travel , the more I realize you can. Never exhaust air , but what it has to offer. And I love to go to a national gallery of whatever country I'm in just to check out the romantic art that celebrates its nature. Romantic meaning art from the 1800s. So if you're in Oslo or if you're in Dublin , go to the National Gallery. Check out the romantic art celebrating nature before you go into the fjord country or over to the West coast of Ireland or whatever. And you'll probably get more of a dose of that romantic approach to nature , which is kind of a good example of how culture and your sightseeing and society and its art all weave together.

S1: That was KPBS reporter Andrew Bohn talking with Rick Steves , author and host of Travel with Rick Steves about his new upcoming series Art of Europe , which debuts this Saturday on KPBS TV at 4 p.m..

S3: This is KPBS midday edition. I'm Maureen CAVANAUGH with Jade Heineman. The San Diego Filipino Film Festival launched last year and returns tonight with even more films. The festival was founded by filmmakers Emma Francisco and Benito Batista in order to raise awareness for Filipino cinema as an important art form and a tool for representation , education and entertainment. KPBS arts reporter Beth ACCOMANDO previews the festival with co-founder Battista. So Veneto , you launched your film festival right after the pandemic , which must have been challenging.

S5: But we had 41 films during the first San Diego Filipino Film Festival , and that gave us the drive and the inspiration to continue and to expand the film festival with the idea of really making it highly visible for our community and for the diverse community so that they can be curious and learn about our stories and our perspectives and our global experience as Filipinos everywhere , as artists. So that was challenging , but at the same time , very , very inspirational.

S3:

S5: The challenge is doubled. Of course , the inspiration is doubled and the joy of bringing more films to the festival and bringing more people and engaging the audience. And hopefully , you know , we learn from the audience. Now , this year it is actually the largest curation of global Filipino films in the United States. We have 69 films , Beth , and we have a lot of filmmakers coming. So it's challenging but joyful. Yes. And inspirational. Yes.

S3: And you will be opening with a program of short films.

S5: She's the head of the programming. After reviewing some of the films , Emma said that we we want to change the format , you know , of opening film , and we want to celebrate the filmmakers that are didn't stop during COVID. Even with a meager budget , they still created their own films. Emma said , We are going to celebrate the short form narrative and also documentaries. But indies and opening films , we have the narrative shorts , you know , it is a global Filipino experience and stories. It talks about love. It talks about modern day love , talks about history of war , remains of war. Yeah , it talks about mentorship in film and how you idolize somebody. And it changes the way you look at them and you know , all those things. And these are jury nominated short films.

S3: Bonito , you have a wonderful centerpiece film this year. It's Leonor Will Never Die. I saw this wildly inventive film at Virtual Sundance. It has to do with a woman who gets hit on the head by a TV and goes into a coma.

S2: The mom , I assume the.

S3: And then writes herself into the screenplay of a 1970s Philippine action film. Yeah.

S2: Yeah.

S3:

S5: We met Martina when we were filming in the Philippines a while back. And so when Leonore Will never die and I think Am I ? And I watched it the same way you watched it at Sundance Virtual. And we we were while watching texting Martina , you know , and said , hey , in particular , we're enjoying your family. Well , congratulations. But what we love about the film is the idea of a woman Filipina filmmaker having an auteur handle about concepts and stories that are not your usual take on things. And this is coming from a young perspective and design and coming from my heritage of Filipino heritage of a filmmaker. So that I think is the major and the most important part about Leonora will never die for us. Aside from the intricacy of going into the the action films of the of the seventies. Right. Right. And , you know , remember action films in the seventies in the Philippines that was big. And as young kids growing up , everyone idolized the action stars their their superstars. And so Leonor Sheila , me , Sheila Francisco , you know the actress really portrayed , you know , somebody who's having a coma and then being able to write herself in a film in the seventies action film. You know , and that's something that really is unique. And we we love it.

S3: And you also have a retrospective screening highlighting an older film. So tell me what film you chose for that.

S5: We want to celebrate the work of director Marilou Diaz , Abaya. She recently passed away and we want to reintroduce her to the mainstream audience and the diverse audiences so that they can understand that in the Philippine film industry globally , we we are inclusive. We appreciate women filmmakers and writers and directors and cinematographers. We appreciate them. And Marilou DIA's Abaya is one of the Filipino filmmakers at the forefront of Philippine world cinema. And so she did this at a time when there's not really a lot of women filmmakers. But , you know , there were actually women filmmakers on the rise and Philippine film industry realized that , you know , anybody can tell a story and we appreciate all perspectives coming from all genders. So we're bringing her film , Kardinal.

S2: I'm trying to find.

S6: Somebody who is soft.

S5: I want the audience to kind of research and be curious about her work , how she started with her husband as the cinematographer. It's a very interesting story. If you if you know the story of Marilou Diaz-Balart as a filmmaker , she was not the one who is , you know , going to be the director of one of the early films. Her husband was the cinematographer. And her husband said , Why don't you direct the film ? That was the that was the idea , you know , and nervous and challenged. She did and she did very well. That's exciting. So , yes.

S3: Well , I want to thank you very much for talking about the San Diego Filipino Film Festival.

S5: Thank you , Beth , for having me. You know , I'm really excited. I'm excited. And again , I'm nervous. You know , it's like preparing food for for your guests , your family and friends. But. Right. But strangers at the same time. And so you hope that everything is okay. You hope that the house is clean and the food is you know , the food is viewed as sumptuous for everyone. So it's like that when somebody tells you , cheers to good food. Oh , that's that's $1,000,000 happiness for us.

S3: That was Beth ACCOMANDO speaking with Benito Batista. The San Diego Filipino Film Festival kicks off its second year at the AMC Otis Ranch Town Center tonight and runs through October 18th.