San Francisco-based Filipino American Filmmaker to Release Docuseries Lasa and Legacy: Stories of Filipino American Activism told through Food
/WHAT: Release of docuseries about Filipino activism in San Francisco Bay Area, ‘Lasa and Legacy’
WHEN: Friday, December 8th, 2023
WHO: Rachel Lucero
WHERE: YouTube: youtube.com/@sagoshow
San Francisco, CA - Rachel Lucero, Filipino American San Francisco-based artist and filmmaker with Balay Kreative Studios in SOMA Pilipinas, proudly announces the December 8th, 2023 release of Lasa and Legacy: Stories of Filipino American Activism told through Food, a docuseries highlighting the history of activism and organizing done by Filipinos in the San Francisco Bay Area, directed by Rachel Lucero.
Part documentary, part cooking show, Lasa and Legacy is a docuseries highlighting four stories about Filipino American history in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Filipino farm labor movement, the struggle for the International Hotel in San Francisco, activism in Filipino punk music, and the SF-based anti-dictatorship movement during Martial Law in the Philippines. The show’s special touch? Each episode features a mouthwatering cooking segment of a Filipino dish related to that history. The docuseries was primarily filmed in SOMA Pilipinas, the Filipino cultural district, and will be released in full on YouTube on Friday, December 8, 2023.
The docuseries features a multigenerational Filipino American cast, including Jeanette Lazam, original tenant activist and current resident of the International Hotel, Estella Habal, professor emeritus at San Jose State University, original tenant activist, and author of ‘San Francisco's International Hotel’, Rupert Estanislao, founder of Aklasan Fest, the only Filipino Punk Festival in the U.S., and Jorge Octaviano, a SOMA senior resident who diligently archived newspaper clippings during Martial Law.
This past Sunday, Lasa and Legacy was screened to a sold out crowd at the Community Arts Stabilization Trust (CAST) building in the SOMA. Cast members were in attendance and participated in a Q&A session with the filmmakers.
Through Lasa and Legacy, Lucero aims to reach a multigenerational Filipino American audience and inspire them to engage in activism in their community. Lucero is the creator behind The Sago Show (@sagoshow), a series of videos on social media about Filipino food and history. The series was funded in part by Balay Kreative, a studio dedicated to accelerating the growth of Filipino artists in the South of Market, San Francisco.