San Diego Filipino Cinema’s

Magic Hour Fest

Presented by TFC – The Filipino Channel

Maraming maraming salamat to everyone who have supported and partied with us at our very first Magic Hour Fest! It was indeed a magical night #beingfilipino – celebrating Filipino food, music, and award-winning short films! Special shout out to our wonderful artists who’ve made our event such a memorable one – musical performers Ruby Ibarra and Roann Ro Mesina and filmmakers Chrissie de Guzman, Charles Gray, Stephen Lee, and Drama del Rosario.

To TFC and Cinematografo who believed in us and who’ve amazingly brought the Filipino pride and spirit into Magic Hour Fest, maraming salamat!

To all our Magic Hour Fest community sponsors, partners, food vendors, and SDFC board members, thank you for your support and for helping us make this event happen. To Justin Ricafort and Hula, thank you for doing a fantastic job as Magic Hour Fest MCs. Thank you to Lauren Garces of Silk Road Productions for your event ninja skills and hard work.

To all our amazing volunteers especially to our core team Leah Lombos, Phuoc Nguyen, Christian Villareal, Miko Aguilar, and Sabrina Gana – thank you for all your hard work, patience, and dedication to SDFC!

And of course, to everyone who’ve attended the event, thank you for celebrating with us! We hope to see you all next year at our 2nd Magic Hour Fest!

Featured Short Films

THROUPLE

by Chrissie de Guzman

Hungover from a bad breakup, a not-so-great stripper makes a house call to a progressive married couple who challenge the way she sees life, love and her own sexuality. (19min)

Official Selection: Outfest 2019 and Palm Springs International ShortFest 2019

Manila is Full of Men Named Boy

by Stephen Lee

Manila, July 7, 2009. As Michael Jackson’s televised funeral plays throughout The Philippines despite terrorist attacks in the south, an estranged son purchases a child who can drink and smoke to impress his father. However, when the patriarch and his friends embrace the new child as one of their own, the question must be asked: what determines who is more valuable of attention? (20min)

Winner: Best U.S. Short, Palm Springs International ShortFest 2019 and Golden Reel Award, VC Film Fest/Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival 2019 | In Competition: Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Singapore International Film Festival

Following Jamie

by Charles Gray

Social media influencer Jamie Chen moves to LA and befriends Quinn, a shy waitress with dreams of performing on Broadway. Quinn realizes that Jamie cares more about gaining online followers than an actual friendship. (17min)

Winner: Diamond Award – Mindfield Film Festival, Los Angeles, 2019 | Official Selection: The Silicon Beach Film Festival, Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, Houston Asian American Pacific Islander Film Festival

In This Family

by Drama del Rosario

What is it like coming out as a gay teen in the Philippines? In a country imbued with traditional Catholic views, coming out is received with disapproval and anger, especially from one’s own family.

Take an intimate look at how one Filipino family reacts to having a gay son. Revisiting unreleased audio recordings of fights from inside his own home, documentary filmmaker Drama Del Rosario shares his story of being outed as a teenager, dealing with his family’s reaction, and the society’s percipience on homosexuality. Beyond coming out, the film explores how parents learn to embrace their children unconditionally. His story is one of thousands that needs to be heard and shared. (12min)