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hello, stranger

 hello, stranger, 2020 [video]

hello, stranger focuses on the nuances of lost connections to identity. being filipino-american but raised in the US, I had trouble connecting further with my identity when my family moved to manila, philippines from baltimore, maryland. having a distant knowledge of my heritage was made all too apparent when i visit my family, not knowing tagalog or having much familiarity with the land. hello, stranger highlights the internal and deep longing to know a stranger, knowing you’ve met before - yet not knowing them at all.

the philippines is a strange yet close world to me, being half filipino and half american but raised in the US. my family recently moved to manila for a few years while I was in college. coming to terms with my family living in a foreign land that has close ties with my heritage and ethnicity has been a complex and intense confrontation with my identity for me, as I feel like I am a stranger, yet we have deep roots with each other.