‘Yellow Rose’ benefit screening for Apl.de.Ap Foundation charities

Responding to audience questions after screening “Yellow Rose” were cast and crew including (left to right) producer Cecilia Mejia, actress Princess Punzalan, and first-time filmmaker Diane Paragas. INQUIRER/Florante Ibanez

CITY OF CARSON, California – A full-capacity audience viewed the film “Yellow Rose” by first time director Diane Paragas screened on August 15, 2019 at the Community Center during the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA.org) National Empowerment Conference.

This special screening of the yet to be theatrically released movie was a benefit for the Apl.de.ap Foundation.  Apl.de.ap, aka Allan Pineda Lindo of the popular hip hop group, Black Eyed Peas was at the screening to receive Trailblazer Award from NaFFAA. Funds raised from the screening would help build computer labs and learning centers in the Philippines’ most needy areas, Pineda said. https://apldeapfoundation.org/)

“Yellow Rose” is about a headstrong undocumented teenage Filipino girl (played by Eva Noblezada) from a small Texas town who pursues her dream of becoming a country music star while facing the threat of deportation after her mother is taken by ICE. It was awarded the 2018 NYWIFT Ravenal Foundation Feature Film Grant.

Producers Cecilia Mejia and Rey Cuerdo, filmmaker Diane Paragas and actress Princess Punzalan answered questions from the audience post-screening. The film’s other major stars, Lea Salonga, Eva Noblezada (two-time Tony Award nominee), country singer Dale Watson and Gustavo Gomez of “The Walking Dead” were working on other projects and were not available.

Apl.de.Ap with his award from NaFFAA; the screening of “Yellow Rose” was a benefit for his charities. INQUIRER/Florante Ibanez

“Yellow Rose” was the opener for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, last May where it also was sold out. The film has received high praise, winning three grand jury awards at the 2019 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, the 2019 CAAMFest Asian American Film Festival‎, and the 2019 Bentonville Film Festival.

Director Paragas said it was a 15-year work of love. “It’s no co-incidence that the film finally got financed in this era when anti-immigrant tensions are at an all-time high,” Paragas noted.

“At the same time, there is a hunger for AsianAmerican stories like never before. My hope is that ‘Yellow Rose’ puts a human face on the plight of Dreamers, while entertaining the audience with original Americana music that they might not have listened to before,” Paragas added.