6/13/2023

Manila’s Butterboy Changed the Drag Scene

Though Filipino queerness dates back as early as pre-colonial times, the portrayal of drag was limited until shows like Drag Den became mainstream. This acceptance led to Butterboy cafe in #Manila, where brunch includes delicious food and drag. Today, as more people are celebrating drag as an art form, Butterboy has become the place for Saturday drag brunches. Their performers gloat about the caring staff, intimate environment, and incredibly supportive brunch-goers. In fact, they say they feel more appreciated at Butterboy than they do in night light–and are even treated like celebrities. Co-owners of Butterboy, Hildebrand Demeterio and Jayson So originally fantasized about a cafe that would serve as a safe place for queer talent. Today, their dreams have been filled with support, love, and a community that never existed before.

About the Filmmaker

6/13/2023

Manila’s Butterboy Changed the Drag Scene

Though Filipino queerness dates back as early as pre-colonial times, the portrayal of drag was limited until shows like Drag Den became mainstream. This acceptance led to Butterboy cafe in #Manila, where brunch includes delicious food and drag. Today, as more people are celebrating drag as an art form, Butterboy has become the place for Saturday drag brunches. Their performers gloat about the caring staff, intimate environment, and incredibly supportive brunch-goers. In fact, they say they feel more appreciated at Butterboy than they do in night light–and are even treated like celebrities. Co-owners of Butterboy, Hildebrand Demeterio and Jayson So originally fantasized about a cafe that would serve as a safe place for queer talent. Today, their dreams have been filled with support, love, and a community that never existed before.

About the Filmmaker

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Break the Frame: Asian Americans in Hollywood

Asian artists have achieved great success in Hollywood, in recent years, but getting that seat at the table has not been easy. Asian stars of the past like Anna May Wong, Sessue Hayakawa, and Miyoshi Umeki paved the way through challenging paths. Their journeys are a tale of resilience, adversity, and strength on the quest for authentic representation.Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki dealt with constant typecasting into stereotypical roles, despite their undeniable star talent. Their experiences underscore the serious challenges faced by Asian women and men in breaking free from stereotypes. Beyond limited film choices, these stereotypes also meant financial hardships. Anna May Wong received unequal pay in 'Daughter of The Dragon’ in comparison to her white costar, even though she had a larger role. Even Miyoshi Umeki, who won a 1958 Oscar for 'Sayonara,' was confined to submissive Asian female roles, showcasing the challenging choices confronting minority actors. Hayakawa faced major criticism from the Japanese-American communities for perpetuating harmful racial stereotypes as an Asian man in Hollywood.While recent progress in Asian representation deserves celebration, lingering challenges persist. The industry must learn from the struggles of these trailblazers to ensure meaningful representation and break free from the historical erasure of Asians in Hollywood. The legacies of Wong, Hayakawa, and Umeki continue to shape the narrative for future generations of Asian artists.

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The UFO Summoner From Ishigaki Japan

Ishigaki Island, Japan. Everyone's heard about people running into aliens. And everyone thinks generally the same thing: those people are crazy. Claims of encounters with extraterrestrials are usually dismissed as superstition or hallucination. So, when we heard reports of numerous and consistent UFO sightings on Ishigaki -- a modest, neighboring island to Okinawa in southwest Japan -- we arrived as skeptics. When we got to the island, we met Naoyoshi Watanabe, a resident who's heard of a creature with freaky features..."like some sort of mummified octopus, but with a face, arms, and legs." He says his friends came across the creature while fishing in the popular tourist spot, the "Blue Cave." Weirdly, about a week after they told Naoyoshi-san about their encounter and request to look into it, they'd forgotten about it entirely. When Naoyoshi-san's tried to follow up, they don't know what he's talking about. That's weird. But it's one story, and we weren't fully convinced. So we trekked up to the northernmost tip of the island to meet with Suekazu Maeda, a man who claims to regularly 'summon the vehicles of the legendary beings.' He was excited by captive audience, and walked us through his tried and true method - flashing a light into the night sky. Initially, nothing happened, just as expected: no outer-world being appeared. But then, almost as if on command, spheres of light as big as the stars were bursting into the night sky. Over the course of an hour, we were in awe as we witnessed around 8-9 flashes of light interacting with each other in the sky. We were shocked--it felt like being in a daze. Maeda-san, however, was unfazed. He's seen them before, many times, even heard them make noise. He only wishes he could see their faces.

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Manila’s Butterboy Changed the Drag Scene