‘Yellow Rose’ nina Lea, Princess at Eva na humataw sa US, mapapanood na sa Pinas

SA wakas, mapapanood na rin ng mga Pinoy ang award-winning movie na “Yellow Rose,” na tumatalakay sa masalimuot at makulay na buhay ng mga Filipino immigrant sa Amerika.

Ito’y pinagbibidahan nina Grammy-winner and 2-time Tony Award nominee Eva Noblezada, award-winning country music artist Dale Watson, local icon Princess Punzalan and Tony Award-winner and Grammy-nominee Lea Salonga.

Iikot ang kuwento ng “Yellow Rose” sa buhay ng isang teenager na Pinay mula sa Texas na gagawin ang lahat para sa pangarap niyang maging country music performer sa US habang dumaraan sa matitinding pagsubok, kabilang na ang posibleng pagpapa-deport sa kanya.

Naipalabas at hinangaan na ang pelikula sa United States at sa iba’t ibang international festivals pero ayon sa direktor nitong si Diane Paragas, iba pa rin ang feeling nang malaman niyang ipalalabas na ito sa Pilipinas.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. As much as it is an American film, it is definitely a Filipino film. I’m just really excited for people to see it there. It’s been many, many years trying to get this thing made so this is a big moment for me to have the film come out for our Filipino people,” pahayag ng direktor sa ginanap na virtual mediacon kahapon.

Ayon naman kay Princess na gumaganap na nanay ni Eva sa movie, “Proud na proud ako na mapapanood na ng ating mga kababayan finally ang pelikulang ito dahil napansin siya dito sa Amerika and sa iba’t ibang film festivals internationally.

“Gusto kong makita rin ng ating mga kababayan kung ano ba itong pelikula na ginawa namin. Excited talaga ako na mapanood ito ng mga kapamilya ko rin diyan,” sabi pa ni Princess.

Pahayag naman ni Eva, “It’s so nice to be able to make the rounds. It’s struck the hearts of people from all over the world and now it’s finally coming back to the root of it all. So yeah it’s really like coming home.”

Ayon pa sa direktor ng “Yellow Rose”, “It is based on very real things that are happening to real people all over America. It’s kind of loosely based from my time growing up in Texas. As a teenager I played music too, but not anywhere as near as good as Eva. But music was my outlet.”

“There is some truth in everything that happens in the film. I did an extensive research because I am a documentary filmmaker so I interviewed a lot of Filipino families and their stories and what happened to them as they went through the system are what we see in the film,” dagdag pa niya.

Natanong naman si Eva kung ano ang pinagkaiba ng pag-arte sa teatro at sa pelikula dahil nga mas kilala siya bilang theater actress (sa Miss Saigon), “I would say for me the only major difference is the fact that there is a camera and that there are different frames that they are shooting with. That for me is the only difference.”

“The way that I try to act, I always want to make sure that I start off with a very strong foundation of authenticity. There is such an incredible power and magic that actors hold that if tomorrow I wanted to be a grandma from the 16th century, I can do that.

“I can have fun transporting my body and my mind to that world. We are living with one foot in reality, pulling from things that we’ve genuinely experienced so we can use that for our character, and also the one foot in imagination which is extremely important,” paliwanag ng dalaga.

Samantala, kung may eksena si Princess sa pelikula na sobrang naka-relate siya, “Yung unang scene namin ni Eva sa kwarto na alam natin na ang mga Pilipino importante ang education. Maraming nagsasabi sa akin, ‘Yung anak mo Princess talented.

“Pwedeng mag-artista. Bakit hindi mo pag-artistahin tutal mahilig din naman.’ Sabi ko, ‘Hindi. Mag-aral muna siya.’ ‘Yung sentiments ng Pilipinong nanay na importante ang education, totoong-totoo sa akin ‘yun. So ‘yung eksena namin ni Eva sa first part ng pelikula, totoong-totoo yun,” dugtong pa niya.

Ang “Yellow Rose” ay mula sa ABS-CBN Global Cinematografo Originals at idi-distribute locally ng ABS-CBN Films Cinexpress. Mapapanood na ito sa streaming platforms ng ABS-CBN na KTX.ph at iWantTFC, pati na rin sa Cignal PPV at Sky Cable PPV simula sa Jan. 29.