JUFRAN

In my documentary “JUFRAN” I explore the importance of my Filipino background and the dilemma’s growing up within Australia, as my parents share their experiences migrating to Australia and having to adapt to the culture here, whilst maintaining Filipino traditions. My story was created because of my dilemmas growing up within Australia and not being able to comprehend the true aspects of my Filipino culture. However, through the documentary formatted film, I open my eyes as my parents as I interview them to uncover the importance of our background, how it’s integrated within our lives, and the aspects that build the foundation of the culture within my family. I ask them questions that relate to their migration and how they felt initially migrating to a new country and leaving everything behind to start something new,the doubts they initially had and how they were able to adapt and keep up with the changes. Throughout this process when asking these questions, I discovered how light hearted their stories are and how they felt fairly welcomed when arriving. I used archived footage from over the years visiting the Philippines, in addition to everyday archived footage of my parents as B roll to visually enhance the film's dialogue. Moreover,  throughout this process, I aim to share the experiences of my parents, as I personally felt these dilemmas are very relatable, especially towards migrating families. Throughout the interviews, I utilise spotlights and back lighting to create a silhouette to represent my personal disconnection between my cultural identity and myself.