I got busy building spaceships… in Afghanistan!

The Afghan Star spaceship being built!

The Afghan Star stage ready liftoff!

My friend Kiri Dalena has emerged as one of her generation’s most important artistic voices here in the Philippines. Her work revolves around revolutionary politics, human rights and the human body. It has been a privilege getting to know her and her family over my years here in the Philippines.

A selection of her work as a filmmaker will be on continuous display at 2014 Yokohama Triennale in Japan, from August 1 – November 3, 2014. The following short films will be exhibited:

Requiem for M
Memorial for Filipino Journalists
Washed Out

If any of my friends or colleagues happen to be in Japan during the exhibition dates, I would urge them to catch her thought provoking films.

Go Kiri! <3 --- Yokohama Triennale 2014 Press Release The videos Requiem for M, Memorial for Filipino Journalists and Washed Out will be shown continuously at Shinko Pier Exhibition Hall, Yokohama, Japan from August 1 - November 3, 2014. Yokohama Triennale 2014 will unfold like a book, consisting of two introductions and eleven chapters, and intended to take the audience through a voyage into the sea of oblivion, asking them if they have not left behind something that is fundamentally important. Requiem for M et al, along with works from Vietnam (Dinh Q. Le), Korea (Kim Seong-youn), Bangladesh (Yasmine Kabir), Taiwan (Chen Chieh-Jen) and China (He Yunchang) will be part of Chapter 10. [caption id="attachment_193" align="alignnone" width="960"] White balloons from Memorial for Filipino Journalists [/caption]

I would like to congratulate my friend Charissa Pammit and her entire team at Unitel Entertainment on the premiere of Jasmine last Sunday on TV 5. This is a groundbreaking project for both Unitel and TV 5. You can learn more about the show here:

With Cha at the helm of this exciting new venture, I know that Jasmine will be a show people will talk about for years to come as one of those ‘turning points’ in Philippine TV entertainment. Go Cha!

When I was young, I had an unshakeable confidence in my decision to pursue a career as a filmmaker, I felt that I could do the work and do it well and in time I would win the confidence of my peers.

Then 2013 happened. I stepped up to direct a small job for Ogilvy & Mather’s Manila. I was tasked to provide event coverage for their client, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce. I went about my work and turned in the documentation to Ogilvy.

I then spent the next six months pleading and begging Ogilvy & Mather’s Manila to pay me for my services. They owed me 1000 USD.

I was gutted, the fire simply went out of me. I found myself plagued by severe panic attacks and a cloud of confusion settled over me. I didn’t know why this was happening to me or why Ogilvy & Mather’s Manila would put me in this position.

Now in my early 30s, I abandoned my hopes to build a career as a filmmaker and started to plan the next chapter of my life.

Then, out of nowhere Diego S. Maranan stepped forward and offered me the chance to direct a documentary highlighting the work of WeDpro, an NGO doing relief and rehabilitation work in the aftermath of super storm Yolanda.

I spent the last few months of this year traveling around Leyte and Antique to the various project sites of WeDpro, meeting with beneficiaries and partners and witnessing the grassroots development work of WeDpro and their partner, Action Aid International.

It was not easy work, from sun up to sun down I was on the move with Choco Matulis under a blazing hot tropical sun, driving around small dirt roads and steep hills on the back of pick up truck with our gear. I almost always came back to Manila sick from sunstroke and exhaustion.

And I loved every minute of it. It felt like drinking a cool glass of water. The experience refreshed me and reminded me why I have spent the last decade of my life trying to build a career as a filmmaker, job by job, video by video.

I cannot thank Diego enough for thinking of me and asking me to direct this documentary for WeDpro. I still do not have the same unquenchable fire of my youth but thanks to Diego’s friendship and belief in me, the spark is back and I hope it provides enough light and warmth to see me through on my way.

You can watch the first documentary short of my recent work here:

GLITTER OF HOPE

And I am nothing without those I work with, I would like to thank Tito Olan Santos for the wonderful script, Javier Abola for the fine editing, Mulawin Galang and Pj Martinez for their audio post production work, Sol Galang for his work as a post production supervisor and my friend and camera operator Chocs, for his great photography, cheer and energy while in the field with me.

You can learn more about WeDpro here:

http://wedprophils.org/

For those of my friends in Manila and elsewhere around the world, I would urge you to remain involved and engaged in Yolanda relief work, especially in Leyte. Whole communities remain homeless several months since the storm and there is a dire need for shelter.

I would like to congratulate my mentor Matthew, his wife and best teammate Lori Rosen, Dean Rosen, David Bianco, Jennifer Blair-Bianco, Steven Silva, Kevin Hindriks, Sher Bautista, Mona Yoy Acuña and the rest of the cast and crew of THE BOSTON – THE KITCHEN MUSICAL!

The taping for the 1st block of season wrapped a few days ago and the official press conference introducing the upcoming show as yesterday at The Podium Mall in Ortigas. This marks the end of a six month + journey for Matthew and many of the people involved and I would like to wish them on what promises to be just the start of an incredible journey.

This is a tremendous victory for everyone but is also an important victory for the Philippines, with the return of top grade international co-productions. It would be great of the industry and government would work together to attract more co-production business to the country.

I would like to invite all my friends and colleagues to catch the premiere of THE BOSTON this June 18th on Lifestyle. Go Team TKM 2! <3 [caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="540"] The Boston – The Kitchen Musical! Coming soon to the Lifestyle Network! [/caption]

I don’t know how to start this entry on my professional film blog and I am 100% sure my sister will murder me for this in the morning when she finds out but I write this to put into words what I must express to myself, my family, friends and sister.

My sister Sara Azimi is incredible.

In the Philippines, during the most terrible typhoons, she would don a wetsuit and join the rescue convoys pushing out into the flooded sections of Metro Manila as a rescue diver. Diving into waters chocked with dangerous debris and toxic waste to save others.

In Kabul, every time she steps out of our home to commute to work is a great act of courage. Kabul is a dangerous and it is especially difficult for women – Afghan or foreign, even a decade after the Taliban were driven from the city.

And less than a week ago 4 teenage gunmen, burst into the Serena hotel in Kabul and shot to death 9 people, many of them eating dinner at a restaurant that my sister and father had just left two hours prior to the attack. If they had stayed a little longer, there would have been 11 people slain in the attack and I would have lost both my sister and father.

But they narrowly escaped the attack and for that I will always thank God but father’s joint venture partner Vince was still in the hotel at the time, trapped by the attack.

Chaos and panic spread throughout the hotel as soon as the shooting started and Vince had no idea what was going on. Where the attack was coming from, how many attackers there were – he was full of questions and mortal terror.

But my sister was able to place a phone call to Vince and spent the next hour and 30 minutes talking him through the attack. She ordered Vince to barricade his hotel room, grab a pillow and blanket and take shelter in the bathtub of his bathroom.

As she spoke with Vince, she could hear the deafening bang of assault rifles in the background. The gunfire would draw closer to Vince’s room and at times it would draw farther away, I think it might have been the longest hour and 30 minutes for both Vince and my sister.

Sara provided Vince a window into what was happening around the hotel as she was receiving news about the assault, she urged him to remain calm and to tell her instead about his daughter working in Somalia.

My sister was calm and levelheaded and courageous, she stayed with him throughout the attack and never left him alone till she was sure he was safe and sound.

That next morning, Vince and his entire family wrote messages of thanks to my little sister for her heroism that terrible night. She wept at their heartfelt words.

My sister is a hero.

My father and sister visited the Serena a hotel two days after the attack, determined to find out if anyone they knew were among the dead. As they made their way through the hotel, my father and sister embraced many of the hotel staff they have known years and wept with them, sharing their grief over the horrible loss of life and all thankful to still be alive.

And I am writing these words to share her heroism proudly with the rest of the world. She is my sister and one of the three greatest people I will ever know in my life, the other two being my father and mother.

I love you Pooches, you’re my hero and the entire world is lucky to still have you among us.

– KG — with Sara Lailee.

After 2 years of relentless work, the hours are drawing to close on the post production for the pilot episode of ASIAN TIGERS. Here I am with post production wunderkind, my good friend Javi, hard at work editing a cut of the Asian Tigers pilot episode so sharp that it bleeds.

Javier Abola at work on the edit for the Asian Tigers pilot!

I am honored to have produced this video with Carlo Cu Unjieng. We wanted to give a personal voice to the many challenges that Yolanda survivors still face 5 months on after the disaster.

Post Typhoon Yolanda: Join the Fight

I would like to urge my friends here in the Philippines and elsewhere around the world to get involved and provide any small gesture of assistance they can for the survivors of super storm Yolanda.

—
RE acknowledgments, I must express my deep thanks to Carlo Cu Unjieng for first approaching me with the idea to produce this video and for getting me involved in the relief effort through the video. Without him, this video wouldn’t exist.

I would also like to thank the TindogTacloban network for connecting us to Lester and the rest of his courageous family and helping arrange this interview with them.

I would like to thank Junie Reyes his work as the cinematographer on this video and Marco D. Biemann for agreeing to let us feature his stunning aerial cinematography of Post Yolanda Leyte. I very much hope our video contributes in some way to the welfare of the storm’s survivors.

Be a hero, join the fight. <3

I am honored to have the opportunity to direct a documentary for WedPro that shall exhibit the important social relief work they are doing with communities in and around Tacloban affected by super storm Yolanda. Learn more about WedPro here:

http://wedprophils.org/

As usual, at the 11th hour my equipment supplier Raffy Yllana always comes through for me. I would also like to thank Sol and Mulawin Galang for helping me with some additional odds and ends. I will be out of Manila until early Monday AM but will be reachable via my phone and possibly E-Mail.

Am very honored to learn from Q-York that the music video I directed last year for Vincent Bueno has been nominated for the VIMA Music Awards in Malaysia! You can check out the MV here:

VINCENT BUENO feat. Q.-YORK – EXPLODE

I would like to thank Jerome B Smooth, Vincent Bueno, Knowa Lazarus [Q-York], Flava Matikz [Q-York] for giving me the opportunity to work with them on this music video and I would also like to thank my cinematographer Sol Galang for his hard work and beautiful lensing of MV. Thanks folks! <3