Yellow Rose

I was really surprised by this movie and very entertained by the characters and music. Eva Noblezada is one hell of a singer and she did a very good acting in this movie which made her character very relatable. I look forward to see her in other films. Dale Watson is excellent as a mentor to the young girl and helping her with her budding music career and not being a prev. It was refreshing to see a younger person taking the advice from an older person about a career path and not be a smart ass know it all teenager. Which currently that is the only way Hollywood writers know how to portray a teenager these days.

The movie also highlights its not just Hispanic people that are illegals in the states but people from other countries too. It also humanize ICE agents and doesn't portray them as mindless robots.

Its a really good feel good movie and you should check it out.

I just screened this movie at the 2019 San Diego Asian Film Festival to a packed house! The audience, although made up of many with a Filipino background - was still quite diverse with other ethnic backgrounds.

This movie depicted what many undocumented families are facing in America today. We don't quite often hear of the Filipino experience, so this was very eye opening and emotional, as our fellow neighbors/friends may be going through this personally and we may not be aware.

Once this movie is widely released, I encourage you to bring your family and friends to watch! This is such a relevant story! Kudos to the director for bringing Filipino perspectives to the big screen. Filipinos are not only great singers or produce beauty queens, but they have Important stories to tell, especially in this film with a fantastic cinematic debut by Eva Noblezada and backed by the supporting actors and a great soundtrack!

Greetings again from the darkness. Immigration and the plight of undocumented workers is as relevant now as it has ever been. Writer-director Diane Paragas and co-writers Andy Bienen, Annie J Howell, and Celena Cipriaso have expanded Ms. Paragas' 2017 short film of the same name into her first feature length project. Although it covers some familiar topics, the film has a distinct look and feel to it ... the vision of an interesting new filmmaker as she provides a glimpse at the struggles and challenges facing undocumented folks, both young and older.

Eva Noblezaba stars as Rose Garcia, a 17 year old undocumented Filipino living in the outskirts of Austin in the hotel where her widowed mother (also undocumented) cleans rooms. This is Ms. Noblezaba's first film, and she's best known for playing Kim in the stage production of "Miss Saigon". Here, she's the teenage daughter of a very protective mother, and she spends her time trying to fit in at school, while also jotting down Country Music song lyrics in her Townes Van Zandt notebook, and strumming the battered guitar her late father gave her. Rose professes no interest in singing her songs for others, but that and everything else changes in one eventful night.

Elliott (Liam Booth), a friend in her class and an admirer of hers, invites her for night out in Austin at the Broken Spoke, "the last of the true Texas Dance Halls", where Austin Country Music icon Dale Watson is performing. An underage Rose over drinks, but also catches the performing "bug", and loves everything about the honkytonk atmosphere. The youngsters return to the motel just as ICE (Immigration and Custom Enforcement) is finishing up a raid, and are taking Rose's mother (Princess Punzalan) into custody. Rose's mother instructs her to seek shelter with her Aunt Gail.

Gail (Tony winner Leah Salonga) lives in an upscale Austin neighborhood - quite the contrast to the life Rose and her mother have been living. Gail is sympathetic to Rose's plight, but Gail's husband doesn't want to get mixed up with harboring an illegal. So Rose recognizes that she's unwanted and seeks refuge with Jolene (Libby Villari), the owner of Broken Spoke (Ms. Villari gives an excellent performance, though it should be noted that the infamous James White is the real life owner of the iconic dance hall). Jolene offers Rose a bed in a back room of the club, something a great many Austinites would pay handsomely for (maybe it should be an AirBnB!).

Dale Watson turns into a reluctant mentor for Rose, and the two write songs and perform together. Mr. Watson is a natural playing the on screen version of himself. There is a lot going on here, as this teenager from the Philippines proves she is strong-willed in both pursuing assistance for her mother, and in following her Country Music dream ... all while maneuvering through the obstacles of being undocumented. There is inherent racism in the film's title (Rose's nickname at school), but director Paragas never allows politics to override Rose's personal story.

Great acting, casting, direction, locations. Everything but an actual story.

This movie was a refreshing change from the last movie I watched, which was Save Yourselves. The biggest problem with that movie was the lack of likeable characters. At least with this movie, you felt a connection to the main character and her plight. Sure, there were some moments that make feel she's just being unreasonable, like when she storms off from Dale Watson. But otherwise, she's just acting like a teen would put in such a situation. Another part I liked about this movie is that even though it feature a teen lead character, and the guy who she befriends from the music store (who actually isn't in it that much), the movie doesn't come across as a Disney channel teen movie. It's a mature film. It stays away from anything dark or disturbing, but it doesn't pull punches when it shows the ICE agents doing their raids to grab undocumented immigrants. And we get to see Rose go through the writing process and finding inspiration from her surroundings and even with help from Dale Watson. Not to say, this movie is about 'how to write and record a song'. But it does show how she takes her real life situation and is inspired to turn it into lyrics. Now, the ending is cliched, and typical of many of these kinds of films, hence dropping a point. And it's somewhat open-ended, because it's basically the new beginning of Rose's journey. Maybe if there's a sequel, it will play out like A Star Is Born? Haha, I don't think there will be a sequel. So, I was glad to be able to see this on the big screen. I imagine a lot of people will only get to experience this on their TV sets. I think if you can see it on the screen, do it. It's shot very well, and the sound is terrific.