A Message from Migrant Workers

CG Animation, sound. In collaboration with Guhit Kulay Artist Collective members Cristina Cayat, Jonalyn Molina, Maria Christina Anire, Lyn Lopez and Marichel Tomines. Animation: Tom McCaughan.

2021-2022

Best International Film, Shepherd's House Film Festival, Philippines 2023

Best Story/script, Pambujan International Film Festival, Philippines 2023

Official Selection, International Migration & Environmental Film Festival, Toronto, Canada 2023

Official Selection, Multiplicity, Short Circuits Film Festival, Fabrica, Brighton 2023

Official Selection, DIWA Filipino Film Showcase, Seattle, US 2023

Short animated film was developed in collaboration with five Filipino artists who also work as domestic workers in Hong Kong. The narrative presents five personal experiences of what working as a domestic worker abroad means, discussing issues from accommodation to working away from families, focusing on the worker’s motivations, dreams and plans for the future, as well as the community's skill-sharing activities practiced in public space on their days off. The film’s visual narrative, the animation storyboard, the final script edit and the voiceovers were developed collaboratively in a series of online film writing workshops with co-directors. The sets wer built by CGI artist Tom McCaughan in response to the collective storyboard, based on actual locations that resonate with the testimonies and bear significance to the community of workers. The animated scenes are filled with the co-directors' artworks and the final chapter 'A message to migrant workers' showcases the scenes, locations and activities that inspired the film. The aim of this community filmmaking project was to explore new ways of collaborating online through skill-sharing practice.