Short film by Fil-Ams wins Oscar
LOS ANGELES—“God of Love,” directed by Luke Matheny and produced by Filipino-Americans Gigi Dement and Stefanie Walmsley, with Stephen Dypiangco, as producer for marketing and distribution, was declared best live action short film during Sunday’s Academy Awards.
LOS ANGELES—“God of Love,” directed by Luke Matheny and produced by Filipino-Americans Gigi Dement and Stefanie Walmsley, with Stephen Dypiangco, as producer for marketing and distribution, was declared best live action short film during Sunday’s Academy Awards.
In his acceptance speech, Matheny thanked the Fil-Ams who helped him make the movie about a love-struck lounge-singer who receives a box of love-inducing darts.
Matheny went to the New York University (NYU) with Dement, a Baguio native, and Dypiangco, who was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents. Walmsley, a former “Eat Bulaga” co-host, met Matheny while they were performing in a music video shoot.
Dypiangco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “It felt amazing to hear ‘God of Love’ called. I was on the verge of tears. I am so proud of our team and thankful for all the love of my wife, parents, family and friends. My family always teased me about taking part in the Oscars [someday] and now I have. Sunday night was an absolute dream come true. All of the nominees were incredibly strong.”
The nomination for “God…,” Dypiangco said, changed the lives of the talents involved.
The short film was Matheny’s graduate student thesis film. It won the Student Academy Awards last year and earned prizes in the film festival circuit.
“Our entire team had [felt] that [an Oscar] nomination was a possibility, but we still weren’t prepared for it. Once the nomination was official, we suddenly had a million things to do. It was like we were suddenly sprinting, coming from a complete standstill,” Dypiangco said.
The filmmaker, whose parents, Lucila and Oscar Dypiangco, are from Pampanga and Laguna, said: “An Academy award is a tremendous victory for everyone involved and I hope that it would open up new doors to all of us professionally.”
New generation
Dypiangco comes from a new generation of filmmakers who went to film schools and who may someday lead to more Fil-Am presence in the academy’s major categories.
The road was paved on Sunday by Matthew Libatique, who went to the American Film Institute’s graduate school, and was the first Filipino to be nominated in the cinematography category (for “Black Swan”). Libatique proudly wore a tux by LA-based designer Oliver Tolentino—with an abaca bow tie—to the awards rites.
Dypiangco is the youngest of Lucila and Oscar, who met in Manila, got married, had three boys and immigrated to Los Angeles in 1969.
Stephen was born 10 years later. He earned a BS degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University but his interest in cinema led him to enroll in NYU’s graduate film school.
At NYU, Dypiangco’s Student Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Made in the Bronx,” focused on inner city youth. His graduate thesis film, “All Americana,” followed an undocumented immigrant struggling to pay for college.
The young filmmaker said: “Whether writing, directing or producing documentaries, comedies, dramas or music videos, I hope to fight for social justice by showcasing minority stories, with dignity and respect.”
Thankful
After Sunday’s ceremonies, Dypiangco said he was thankful to his parents.
“They have always encouraged me to follow my heart and pursue my passion,” he said. “Their love knows no bounds, and nothing makes them happier than their children’s happiness.”
He added: “I am most grateful to my wife, Ann. She is a social worker who has worked tirelessly to help me pursue my filmmaking dreams. Making independent films can be extremely stressful and all-consuming. She pushes me to do my best but, more important, she helps me keep a perspective about what really matters in life—family, friends and each other.”
Asked about his plans, Dypiangco said he would concentrate on finishing “Home Unknown,” his documentary on a trip to the Philippines with his parents. The docu is about his search for Filipino identity.
Most ambitious
Dypiangco said “Home Unknown” is his “most ambitious” film. “I hope all of this amazing Academy Awards attention [translates] to interest from Filipino investors. I know the film will resonate with Pinoys all over the world.”
He shared some revelations during the shoot in the Philippines: “Over the course of my life, I gradually formed the habit of ignoring most things that my parents said to me. When they started talking, that was my cue to tune out. But when I started filming them in LA and the Philippines, I had no choice but to finally listen to them. It was at this point that I realized I knew nothing about them as real people with their own hopes, dreams, regrets and imperfections.”
He said training his camera on his parents was tough for all three of them in the beginning.
“At first my parents, especially my mom, were extremely resistant to opening up to me with the camera there.
But over time, they let down their guard. Now I understand what their lives were like back in the Philippines, why they came to the United States and what motivates them. I think making this movie allowed my parents to remember parts of their lives that they had long forgotten,” he said.
Of her Oscar experience, Dement told the Inquirer: “I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been fortunate that the Filipino community rallied round the ‘God…’ team. Oliver Tolentino generously offered to dress me for the Oscars. I was really worried about walking in super high heels in a beaded gown. As a New Yorker with two young children, I don’t get to practice such feats.”
The triumph of the 18-minute film was especially poignant for Walmsley, who grew up in the Philippines with a father who was an expatriate businessman and a Cebuana mother.
“My father, Gerry Walmsley passed away three years ago,” she said. “He repeatedly said that I would one day make it to the Oscars.”
Walmsley, who wore a gown by Martin Bautista—flown in from the Philippines—quipped, “I fully expected to be physically extracted from the red carpet since I was planning on living on it.”
Matheny went to the New York University (NYU) with Dement, a Baguio native, and Dypiangco, who was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents. Walmsley, a former “Eat Bulaga” co-host, met Matheny while they were performing in a music video shoot.
Dypiangco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer: “It felt amazing to hear ‘God of Love’ called. I was on the verge of tears. I am so proud of our team and thankful for all the love of my wife, parents, family and friends. My family always teased me about taking part in the Oscars [someday] and now I have. Sunday night was an absolute dream come true. All of the nominees were incredibly strong.”
The nomination for “God…,” Dypiangco said, changed the lives of the talents involved.
The short film was Matheny’s graduate student thesis film. It won the Student Academy Awards last year and earned prizes in the film festival circuit.
“Our entire team had [felt] that [an Oscar] nomination was a possibility, but we still weren’t prepared for it. Once the nomination was official, we suddenly had a million things to do. It was like we were suddenly sprinting, coming from a complete standstill,” Dypiangco said.
The filmmaker, whose parents, Lucila and Oscar Dypiangco, are from Pampanga and Laguna, said: “An Academy award is a tremendous victory for everyone involved and I hope that it would open up new doors to all of us professionally.”
New generation
Dypiangco comes from a new generation of filmmakers who went to film schools and who may someday lead to more Fil-Am presence in the academy’s major categories.
The road was paved on Sunday by Matthew Libatique, who went to the American Film Institute’s graduate school, and was the first Filipino to be nominated in the cinematography category (for “Black Swan”). Libatique proudly wore a tux by LA-based designer Oliver Tolentino—with an abaca bow tie—to the awards rites.
Dypiangco is the youngest of Lucila and Oscar, who met in Manila, got married, had three boys and immigrated to Los Angeles in 1969.
Stephen was born 10 years later. He earned a BS degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University but his interest in cinema led him to enroll in NYU’s graduate film school.
At NYU, Dypiangco’s Student Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Made in the Bronx,” focused on inner city youth. His graduate thesis film, “All Americana,” followed an undocumented immigrant struggling to pay for college.
The young filmmaker said: “Whether writing, directing or producing documentaries, comedies, dramas or music videos, I hope to fight for social justice by showcasing minority stories, with dignity and respect.”
Thankful
After Sunday’s ceremonies, Dypiangco said he was thankful to his parents.
“They have always encouraged me to follow my heart and pursue my passion,” he said. “Their love knows no bounds, and nothing makes them happier than their children’s happiness.”
He added: “I am most grateful to my wife, Ann. She is a social worker who has worked tirelessly to help me pursue my filmmaking dreams. Making independent films can be extremely stressful and all-consuming. She pushes me to do my best but, more important, she helps me keep a perspective about what really matters in life—family, friends and each other.”
Asked about his plans, Dypiangco said he would concentrate on finishing “Home Unknown,” his documentary on a trip to the Philippines with his parents. The docu is about his search for Filipino identity.
Most ambitious
Dypiangco said “Home Unknown” is his “most ambitious” film. “I hope all of this amazing Academy Awards attention [translates] to interest from Filipino investors. I know the film will resonate with Pinoys all over the world.”
He shared some revelations during the shoot in the Philippines: “Over the course of my life, I gradually formed the habit of ignoring most things that my parents said to me. When they started talking, that was my cue to tune out. But when I started filming them in LA and the Philippines, I had no choice but to finally listen to them. It was at this point that I realized I knew nothing about them as real people with their own hopes, dreams, regrets and imperfections.”
He said training his camera on his parents was tough for all three of them in the beginning.
“At first my parents, especially my mom, were extremely resistant to opening up to me with the camera there.
But over time, they let down their guard. Now I understand what their lives were like back in the Philippines, why they came to the United States and what motivates them. I think making this movie allowed my parents to remember parts of their lives that they had long forgotten,” he said.
Of her Oscar experience, Dement told the Inquirer: “I didn’t know what to expect. I’ve been fortunate that the Filipino community rallied round the ‘God…’ team. Oliver Tolentino generously offered to dress me for the Oscars. I was really worried about walking in super high heels in a beaded gown. As a New Yorker with two young children, I don’t get to practice such feats.”
The triumph of the 18-minute film was especially poignant for Walmsley, who grew up in the Philippines with a father who was an expatriate businessman and a Cebuana mother.
“My father, Gerry Walmsley passed away three years ago,” she said. “He repeatedly said that I would one day make it to the Oscars.”
Walmsley, who wore a gown by Martin Bautista—flown in from the Philippines—quipped, “I fully expected to be physically extracted from the red carpet since I was planning on living on it.”
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