Disoriented: The Makers

the
cast

the
crew

"His camera movements and editing are so assured for a
first time filmmaker that Disoriented emerges as a winner
- G. Allen Johnson, SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER

A Note from Director-Actor, Francisco Aliwalas

What does it mean to be American? We call ourselves Irish American, Hispanic American, Africa American or in my case Asian-American, or more exactly Filipino American. But what does this mean? Which am I? Can I be both? Can I blend these two colorful cultures and not end up with mud?

Being Asian-America, though having lived here over 30 years I am still asked: "Where are you from?" I like to respond: "I was born in Manila, but made in America." Arriving stateside when at two, my family settled in the suburbs,

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whereby I grew up thinking of myself as typical all-American boy. Hot dogs, baseball, Tom Saywer, I didn't start to recognize an Asian face in the mirror until some twenty years later. The song, language, religion and history of my ancestors was returning like a long, lost memory. I 'd have to balance my new Asian reality with my old American dreams.

We made "Disoriented" to confront issues of identity not just for Asian-Americans, but for anyone finding himself caught between his public mask and private face. When we dream, we juggle several identities and but when we wake and enter the world, this circus act continues. All of us play different parts and hide secret sides from those who have other plans for us. In the film, Filipino American West Cordova switches several personalities: from harried Chinese Delivery Boy to honorable Pre-Med, from Super Surgeon to Sushi Chef even transforming from an everyday hero to an unexpected heroine! This Frank Capra-esque (and often Franz Kafka-esque) film has fun poking American pop icons and stretching Asian stereotypes. This truly is a wonderful (and weird) life!

And at the center of these swirling forces pulling West eastward and westward stands his mother a force of nature in herself. What mom has in mind for him and what is actually in his mind (if only he could make up his mind!) is the problem that he must resolve. Sound familiar? I like to say: "I made this film for anyone who has ever had a mother."

ENJOY!

( scroll down for cast & crew listings )

the cast

West
Mom
Danger

Minako
Speedy
Manny

to crew list

West - Francisco Aliwalas

Writer-director Aliwalas makes his screen debut with Disoriented. Currently, he's the kid in Maurice Sendak's illustrations for the Verizon ad campaign,"Wild Things Are Happening." Read more about him in the crew list. Email him at: franciscoaliwalas@yahoo.com

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Mom - Potri Ranka Manis

Founder and artistic director of Kinding Sindaw Company - www.kindingsindaw.org -a traditional dance group celebrating indigenous Phillippine culture.
This is her first motion picture.

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Danger - Wayland Quintero

Quintero is a performing artist, director, administrator, and teacher. One of the three members that make up of Slant - www.slantperformancegroup.com (a resident company of La Mama - www.lamama.org ) and former performer with Ping Chong & Co., Chen & Dancers, and other groups, he has performed and taught across the country at over 50 theatrical, university, and college venues, as well as internationally in Belgrade, Singapore & China. A former member of the Kinding Sindaw Company www.kindingsindaw.org, Quintero directed Rajah Mangandiri and Lemlunay to critical acclaim. He has sat on panels for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has a BA in Political Science from the University of Hawaii, a MFA from NYU- Tisch School of the Arts, and is currently Project Manager at the Asian American Arts Alliance. Contact him at: slanttrio@yahoo.com or 212-714-7189.

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Minako - Kayo Takahashi

Residing in Los Angeles, this Japanese actress and traditional dancer also starred in the feature films Black Mail and Love Machine. Her extensive television work ranges from Late Night with Conan O'Brien to the NY Food Manual. She appeared at the Synchroncity Space in Under the Moon and Rumi's Mathnavi at La MaMa E.T.C. Featured in last year's IRS Earned Income Tax Credit commercial, she also starred alongside Country Western music legend, Willie Nelson, in an H&R Block spot which premiered on Superbowl Sunday.

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Speedy - JoJo Gonzalez

Renown Filipino actor and director JoJo Gonzalez has performed in numerous plays and television productions. In 2003, Mr. Gonzales won an Obie Award playing the title character in Ma-Yi Theater Company's production of The Romance of Magno Rubio. He triumphed in La Jolla Playhouse's production of Jessica Hagedorn's, Dogeaters, and in 2001 reprised his role at New York's premiere Off Broadway house, The Public Theater. Other films include the NBC television movie, Border Line, where he played the heavy starring opposite Sherry Stringfield (Dr. Susan Lewis of ER). He also taught at NYU and was chosen for the prestigious Sundance Institute Theater Lab.

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Manny - Sutton Keany

Concurrently and following the shooting of Disoriented, Sutton Keany trained classically at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and received Meisner instruction at the Acting Studio, inc. in NYC. He trains with Wendy Ward and starred in a production of Peter Nichol's Joe Egg. Disoriented represents his debut performance in anything, anywhere.

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Director-Writer
Producer
Cinematography

the crew

Editor
Music
Sound

to cast list



Director / Writer / Actor - Francisco Aliwalas Francisco Aliwalas was born in Quezon City, Philippines. At the age of two, he arrived in the U.S with his physician parents. His love for cinema crystallized when he first sneaked into Tom Sawyer at the nearby drive-in. He attended the Rochester Institute of Technology majoring in Film and Television whereby his senior thesis, a short film titled, "Imagination Airlines," secured a distributor. This action/adventure film about an alienated boy who builds a giant cardboard airplane, was presented on USA Network as well as the Children's Channel in London. Soon after film school, he wrote and directed a short video narrative, "Pause," depicting a teenage girl's descent into substance abuse and suicide. It won first place in a national video competition, Visions of US, administered by the American Film Institute. The finalist judges included Francis Ford Coppola. For five years, Francisco ran an upstate production company with partner Douglas Bachman. They produced numerous regional commercials, educational and industrial films. Francisco then relocated to Manhattan where he landed positions working for a wide range of luminaries including: writer/director Paul Schrader, publisher Judith Regan, fashion designer Elie Tahari, and children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. Francisco then compiled his experiences and observations into a screenplay about a dysfunctional Filipino-American family struggling to survive in a small town, which was to become the film Disoriented. His current project is The Blue Hour, mystery-thriller which was shot in 24p DV, guerrilla-style in the mean streets of Manhattan. With seven screenplays penned, Francisco plans to make his latest script, Thunder And Mist, his next feature. This comedy drama follows three estranged brothers cross country as they struggle to fulfill their eccentric father's last wish . Email him at: franciscoaliwalas@yahoo.com back to crew list


Producer / Assistant Director / Co-writer - Douglas Bachman Bachman studied film production at UCLA and at Rochester Institute of Technology's renown School of Photography. His short films, "Changes" and "Heritage," won top honors at the Rochester International Film Festival. Soon after, he produced, wrote and directed the indie feature, "Cotton Eyed Joe," a comedy about a New Yorker who dreams of becoming a cowboy. In 1990, he joined with Francisco Aliwalas to form a production company specializing in educational films. An early success was "Safe Crossing," about school bus safety, which is credited with directly saving young lives. Winning a federal grant the following year, Douglas produced and wrote "Maria's Choice," a narrative film warning of the dangers of drug use during pregnancy. Featuring both an English and Spanish-speaking language cast, the film is distributed nationwide. For the next several years, Bachman produced numerous commercials and industrials for various clients including IBM, Smirnoff, and New York State. To keep his sanity during this period, he penned screenplays: "Last Summer" (with Aliwalas ), a not-so-innocent modern take on Huck and Tom; "Wide Awake," which confronts the issue of child discipline versus child abuse; "Hollow Men," an ultra-violent soul searcher; and "Endangered," an eco-thriller exposing the worldwide black market trade of endangered species. His latest screenplay, "Losing Light," concerns a controversial fashion photographer who exiles himself to the wilderness after his art sparks a tragedy. He rejoined Aliwalas to produce and co-write the independent feature, "Disoriented". He also co-directed with Jack Abele the indie drama, "The Only One," and was assistant director for Abele's "Entering Oblivion." Along with promoting "Disoriented," he presently works out of New York City as a television director / dp. His TV series work includes Travel Channel's "5 Takes" and A&E's homicide doc "The First 48." Recently, he co-shot the documentary "Autism Every Day" which premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Contact him with your comments at bokmin@mindspring.com back to crew list

	Director of Photography - Taylor Morrison Lensed numerous national television commercials plus documentary work for ABC's "Olympic Profiles" and "America's Most Wanted." In addition to "Disoriented," Morrison shot the indie films, "Dorian Blues" with director Tennyson Bardwell (from TLA Releasing) and "The Only One." and "Entering Oblivion" with co-directors Jack Abele & Douglas Bachman. Currently, he shoots commercials and promotional films around the world. Reach him at Production Equipment Inc, at regentst@nycap.rr.com back to crew list

Editor - Keiko Deguchi Editor and Assistant Editor of studio feature films for the past decade, her credits range from Brian DePalma's "Carlito's Way" to Tom DiCillo's "Box of Moon Light." As Editor in addition to "Disoriented" she lists DiCillo's"The Real Blonde" with Matthew Modine, Yoshifumi Hosoya's "Sleepyheads" and, "Luminous Motion" directed by Bette Gordon and starring Deborah Unger and Terry Kinney which opened to raves this spring. She also edited Sundance favorite, Patrick Stettners, "The Business of Strangers" starring Stockard Channing and Julia Styles. Recently she edited "Fur" with Nicole Kidman, indie "American Brown" as well as the eye-opening docs, "Burma: Anatomy of Terror" and "Anonomusly Yours," about the horrors of the sex industry in Southeast Asia. Her documentary "The Cats of Mirikitani" won the audience award at the 2006 Tribeca Film Fest. back to crew list

	Music - LM's b. This eclectic jazz / folk musician composed and performed the entire acoustic score combining traditional Filipino ballads, pop melodies, and experimental rhythms. Amazingly, he did the entire soundtrack with only a single acoustic guitar and these gongs. back to crew list

Sound - Mark Cochi Recordist for numerous network television programs from ABC's Olympic Profiles to ESPN's "X-treme Games" and PBS's "Trailside." back to crew list

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