FILM EXPLORES IMMIGRANT ANGST OVER LONG-DISTANCE FAMILY TIES
As an immigrant who’s lived in Canada for 25 years, Edmonton filmmaker Eva Colmers knows something about long-distance relationships.
Her new short film, Happy Birthday, Mango!, tells the story of a live-in Filipino nanny struggling to stay connected to her son, who still lives back home. Colmers, let’s be clear, is not a Filipino nanny.
“That’s correct,” she laughs. “But I am an immigrant and can very much relate to the theme of not being there where the majority of your loved ones are — how do you reconcile that?
“It doesn’t really matter if your parents are 10,000 kilometres away in Germany or just on the other side of Canada. The question remains, how can you remain close to the ones you love?”
The film stars Nathania Bernabe as Almara, a housekeeper who dearly wants to sing happy birthday to her overseas son, Pepo (Alaister Sison). She affectionately calls him Mango.
Having used up all her phone data, tension pours in as Almara has to go hat in hand for some time on the computer from her employer Claire (Samantha Grant), who is too busy to pay attention to her own daughter — never mind worry about her housekeeper’s problems.
Colmers notes, philosophically, distance can exist even within a household. “The film not only touches on physical closeness, but emotional, too.”
Director and co-producer, Colmers was partially inspired to write the story while witnessing a tiny drama over at a friend’s place. “The little girl fell and hurt herself and ran immediately to the nanny in order to find comfort, rather than to the mom who was sitting right there,” she recalls. “It’s not always easy.”
In the film, the director included subtle rivalry between her Claire and Almara. To understand her subject matter, Colmers had multiple meetings with Filipino advisers and workers who shared their stories. “To the audition, lots of Filipinos came and said, ‘This is my story, this is my story.’ ”
Claire’s daughter Alex is played by Sherwood Park hip-hop dancer Taylor Hatala — on tour with Janet Jackson at the time of filming.
Colmers explains, “When she was 11 or so she was doing her dancing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I wanted to give her an opportunity to hone her acting skills, but the fact is she was away on a world tour. And then Janet Jackson got pregnant and they cancelled the tour, and her mom asked, ‘Are you still looking?’
“That was fantastic. She has millions of likes, way more than any of us put together,” Colmers said.
Filming was done in three days, frugally. “Budget is always an issue. A nephew of mine was shooting a documentary in Somalia so I asked him to get me a shot from the ocean — but everything else was done in Edmonton, from the Groat Bridge with our skyline behind to the Muttart, which provided the background for the lush jungle. The house,” she says with a laugh, “is actually my house — that’s how strict we were with cash.”
Wes Miron did a terrific job shooting. Filming on the bridge, capturing a moment of perfect golden light, “we had to shoot with walkie-talkies — we couldn’t be in the way. And all those bicycles that came through!”
With more than 14 films on her resume, three of them documentaries
for the National Film Board, Colmers said, “My wish is that I’m not repeating myself with short films any more. I just want to do long format. It’s now or never.”
She’s on the phone at Banff Media Fest as I interview her, definitely on the independent side of the industry conference — but seeing what she can learn about broadcast as she eyes turning Mango into an ongoing series.
“I’d love to bring to our city a series, that concept to branch out — you could talk about the politics of immigration, about the family. I’m not quite ready to full-blown pitch, but that’s what I’m here for: I’m trying to learn.
“If some of us do well here it raises us all.”
A screening at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Metro Cinema of Happy Birthday, Mango! is a sneak preview fundraiser for cast and crew — although the public is welcome to come support the film.
The film officially premieres June 23 at the 14th annual Female Eye Film Festival at the Fox Theatre in Toronto, which is associated with the Canadian professional development initiative Women in the Director’s Chair.
Colmers said she never felt held back as a female director in Edmonton. “No, not at all. It bugs me when I hear the low percentages of female directors, and barely anybody produces in the mainstream — but I do not experience that in Edmonton or Alberta.
“There is a different way men present themselves compared to women, but sometimes we need to be a little bit louder. I just was at a Q&A session and they didn’t see my hand right away, so I had to stand up and then they saw me — Here’s another questioner, this fragile little woman.”
Colmers is also working on a documentary about a teenager transitioning genders as she pitches Mango! to the festivals, and begins to write episodically.
Always on the go as one of Edmonton’s most prolific filmmakers involves, Colmers said, “throwing lots of spaghetti on the ceiling and crossing my fingers that some will stick.”