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Short Film on Filipino Experience in Santa Barbara Debuts at International Film Fest

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - The 41st Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival is set to display over 200 films in the next weeks on across multiple screens in the city. Among the screenings are short films created by local filmmakers such Ralph Torrefranca and his new film Fil-Am.

At just 14 minutes, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival describes the film as the story of "a 16-year-old Filipino kid is forced to leave his old life behind for the terrifying new world of Santa Barbara."

Based on his experience moving from the Bay area to the city of Santa Barbara, Torrefranca wrote and directed Fil-Am over the course of three days in area up north and here in Santa Barbara. Torrefranca joined your Morning News to talk about the experience.

"I started falling in love with film here in Santa Barbara, taking my first film class during the summer, and then eventually like figuring out that I actually did want to pursue this seriously," said Torrefranca.

Along with being a film maker, Torrefranca is also a celebrated musician and DJ.

"I feel like storytelling's always been just a big part of my life, so being able to have this avenue of a visual medium where I could like write the script and develop the script with with the actors and the characters opposed to just like writing a song in my room by myself, I feel like it's a real collaborative effort."

You can see Fil-Am at the McHurley Film Center on February 7th and 9th during the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

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Alissa Orozco

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