Basco siblings, stars of new feature film, discuss finding their place in Hollywood

Fans often recognize Dante Basco for his role as Rufio in the 1991 Steven Spielberg film “Hook.”

“If I’m in public, yeah I get some people goin’ ‘Rufio! Rufio!’ still several times a week. I’ve got my own chant, like I’m a WWF wrestler,” he said, with a laugh. “It’s cool to have a character with a following like that.”

But don’t put this Filipino American heartthrob in a box.

The Pittsburg native makes his directorial debut with “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,” which gets its California premiere at the 34th annual CAAMFest on Friday, May 14. The film, starring his reallife siblings (Derek, Darion, Dionysio and Arianna), serves as both a celebration of his Filipino heritage and Bay Area roots and an American experience.

“I went in going, ‘If I’m going to direct my first film, I really want to just talk about our story.’ I don’t even think I was out there to really put out the definitive Filipino American film. If anything, it’s a definitive Basco family film … and the hope, in the back of my mind, was that we see ourselves, our families, just like people saw themselves in, say, ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ or ‘The Godfather,’ ” Basco said.

“If we did it right, other cultures will see themselves in our family and learn a little something about the Filipino culture too.”

“The Fabulous Filipino Brothers” is a dramedy loosely inspired by his father, Darius, and his uncles. “These are our family’s stories,” Basco confirms. “We just embellished them, made them more fabulous.”

Those “fabulous” stories are told in segments, giving each Basco brother a chance to shine playing the roles of “the reliable one” (Derek), “the lucky one” (Dante), “the funny one” (Dionysio) and “the dark one” (Darion).