Filmmaker Curtis Choy's Latest Documentary Manilatown is in the Heart Time Travel with Al Robles

Award-winning filmmaker Curtis Choy has spent years documenting the many diverse voices of Asian America.

His documentary The Fall of the I-Hotel is a must see for anyone learning about Asian American history.

Choy's most recent film Manilatown is in the Heart - Time Travel with Al Robles was selected as a Finalist for the 2009 Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary at the L.A. Asian Pacific Film Festival.

Choy follows the wanderings of Al Robles who was an activist for the poor, the elderly, and a last link to the disappearing Manong generation, the bachelor society that came to America to work from the Phillipines in the 1920s and 30s.

On May 2, filmmaker Curtis Choy was presenting his latest documentary Manilatown is in the Heart - Time Travel with Al Robles at the Directors Guild Theater in Hollywood, at the 2009 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.

For the documentary, Choy chronicled the wanderings and lyrical musings of Al Robles, a poet, activist and a last link to members of the Manong generation, the disappearing bachelor society that came to America to work from the Philippines in the 20s and 30s.

Robles had been the subject of other films produced by Choy over the years, including his documentary, The Fall of the I-Hotel.

In the 1970s, Robles was an activist involved in the San Francisco I-Hotel struggle, a fight which is now burned into Filipino-American civil rights history.

After a decade-long protest, many low-income elderly Manong were evicted, effectively dismantling the last enclave of downtown San Francisco's historic Manilatown community.

At the end of the film festival screening, Choy had to break the sad news to the audience that Al Robles had passed away that same day.

We are grateful to documentarian Curtis Choy for bringing the heart-felt stories, poetry, music and musings of Al Robles and his Manong friends to life in his films.

We are grateful to the late Al Robles for sharing his stories, his poetry and his lifelong passion to help the poor, the downtrodden, and the forgotten.

Thanks to Al Robles, his stories and his people will never be forgotten.

Check the website links to Curtis Choy's films below for screening dates and locations.

A Synopsis of Curtis Choy's Manilatown is in the Heaert - Time Travel with Al Robles

A one-man social service agency and poet, Al Robles is truly one of Asian America's hidden gems, the link to the disappearing bachelor society that came from the Philippines in the 1920s and '30s. He records, interprets, and channels their stories.

We accompany Al in his wanderings while he tells the manong's tales of isolation, struggle, and merriment. Though affable and approachable, he remains enigmatic and mysterious. No question ever receives a direct answer, and he always deflects attention away from himself.

Whether on foot or on the bus, he is always out the door by 6:30 a.m. His answering machine messages go unheeded. Without e-mail, cell phone, or any other modern leash, the only way to reach him is a chance meeting on the Muni bus.

The filmmaker follows Al through San Francisco's Chinatown and Manilatown, on the road, and in the farm country of Watsonville and Delano as he befriends the downtrodden and represents the dispossessed. Though Al's musical talents also grace much of the action, it is his mesmerizing performance at poetry readings that shine through.

Related News:

Memorial Services May 15 & May 17, 2009 for Al Robles

Curtis Choy's Official Website Chong Moonhunter Productions.

Manilatown is in the Heart Time Travel with Al Robles Official Website

The Fall of the I-Hotel Official Website

Remembering the I-Hotel struggle.