What's up, my people. Time to meet another Angry Reader of the Week, spotlighting you, the very special readers of this website. Over the years, I've been able to connect with a lot of cool folks, and this is a way of showing some appreciation and attention to the people who help make this blog what it is. This week's Angry Reader is filmmaker Ramona Diaz.
Who are you?
In the United States, and elsewhere, I'm known as Ramona Diaz. But my family and childhood friends back in Manila call me Monina. This causes a lot of confusion on Facebook. I come from a country notorious for nicknames that are often times as long, or longer than, the real names. Brevity is not of particular concern to us.
What are you?
Beyond the name-calling, I'm an Asian-American mother, wife and filmmaker -- and not necessarily in that order. I'm usually drawn to stories about the Filipino and Filipino-American experience. And although the details may be rooted in race and culture, the themes in my stories transcend the specifics and, hopefully, make it a more accessible and universal experience.
Where are you?
I am right now ensconced in a hotel room in New York City doing back to back phoners for my film Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey which is opening nationally in theaters this weekend. But ordinarily I live in Baltimore where my husband teaches at Johns Hopkins. I always feel the need to tack on this last piece of information. People just assume, because of what I do, that I live in either NY or LA. They give me puzzled looks but never ask why -- it's a preemptive strike on my part.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in the Philippines. I left when I was 18 to go to college in Boston. After school and a stint in Los Angeles, I went back to Manila and lived there for a number of years. I returned to the US to go back to school and have since settled in this country. In the intervening years, I've lived in San Francisco, Austin, and now Baltimore. However, when I visit Manila, which I try to do every year, I still say, "I'm going home." This has come to truly rankle my daughter.
What do you do?
I make films. Right now, I mostly make documentary films. On a recent trip to Los Angeles, I discovered that the more appropriate term for me was "a filmmaker in transition" -- because I have expressed the desire to make fiction films. But, at the end of the day, stories are stories. I'm a storyteller utilizing film as my medium of expression.
What are you all about?
I'm about being a lifelong student.
I'm about remaining curious about life, people I meet, places I visit.
I'm about discovering news ways of creating art.
I'm about trying to ascertain the real story behind the sound bites, to hear what's important amidst all the noise.
What makes you angry?
I'm angry about the trampling of women's reproductive health rights in this country and elsewhere. I'm angry that forty years after Roe Vs. Wade, there are numerous attempts (mostly in Republican-controlled states south of the Mason-Dixon line), to limit access to abortion. I'm angry that, as I write this, the headline of the New York Times is "Arkansas Adopts a Ban on Abortions After 12 Weeks." I'm angry that in 2013, people still believe that sex education leads to promiscuity. I'm angry that there is a real movement to defund Planned Parenthood.
Ignorance drives me nuts.