Filipino film bests in 2020 Bentonville Film Festival

FILE: Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega (center) shows her support to the creators of Lingua Franca during the film kickoff. From left: Cecilia Mejia, Gigi Dement, Isabel Sandoval, Jhett Tolentino, Richard Kim, Vice Consul Khrystina Corpuz Popov. (PCGNY Photo)

A film that tells the story of a Filipina caregiver based in Brooklyn, New York and her immigrant experiences, bagged the top award in the 6th Bentonville Film Festival.

Written, directed, and starred by Isabel Sandoval, “Lingua Franca” won the jury award for Best Narrative Feature of the film festival that aims to promote underrepresented voices of diverse storytellers.

“Lingua Franca” is Sandoval’s third narrative feature after “Señorita” in 2012 and “Aparisyon” in 2011.

The film’s synopsis reads, “Olivia, an undocumented Filipino transwoman, works as a caregiver to Olga, an elderly Russian woman, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When Olivia runs out of options to attain legal status in the US, she becomes romantically involved with Alex, Olga’s adult grandson, in the pursuit of a marriage-based green card.”

“I made ‘Lingua Franca’ to represent a different kind of Filipino immigrant. It’s not a story necessarily about the hardships. Of course, you know, the Filipino immigrant experiences hardships but it’s about resilience and being strong and surviving amidst the challenges and difficulties that we experience when we move to a new country,” Sandoval was quoted as saying by ABS-CBN.

Netflix will be streaming “Lingua Franca” on August 26.

Bentonville Film Festival, co-founded by Oscar winner Geena Davis wants to amplify female, LGBTQ+, people of color, and people with disabilities in entertainment and media. Aside from narrative feature, other award categories are for documentary film, short film (narrative and documentary), episodic (narrative and documentary), and special recognition awards such as best first feature, best performance, and best editing.