The Learning & other shorts at 2011 VAFF
Showing November 6 at 3pm in the ABC’s of Life series at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival is The Learning, an American-produced feature documentary by Ramona Diaz on the lives of four Filipinas who enter into a program that fills teaching roles in Baltimore, Maryland. Angel, Grace, Dorothea, and Rhea are four teachers, each respected in their fields in the Philippines, but yearning for a chance at a better life.
Unlike some of the horror stories that I hear about the plight of Filipina women sent to Western countries as child care workers still earning under par salaries, there was a great tone of positivity in this documentary. The women are not going to teach reluctantly, and though days are not picture-perfect in the American classrooms, the women survive with dignity, and their inner strength is highlighted in a way that only a film can show.
Dorotea was by far the most entertaining character, loved and missed by her entire former school when she says goodbye. Dorotea teaches science at a Polytechnic High School, and has such a hard time controlling her classroom sometimes that I wondered if it was because there was a camera in the room or because the kids were just bonkers. And I wondered about the language barrier as well, because while Dorotea has a strong Filipina accent, so do the kids, speaking a mile-a-minute with slang and swear words to her face. Still, Dorotea makes it through the year with a ‘Satisfactory’ evaluation, and earned 25 times more than she would have in the Philippines for her family, including a husband and four sons.
Rhea is a special education teacher at an elementary school, and her problems do not necessarily stem from the children she teaches, but from problems back home when her husband of 19 years gets into drugs and is sent to jail.
Grace is a math teacher who leaves her infant son behind. Even with almost daily Skype-like video chats, her son becomes more accustomed to kissing her photo than being held in her arms when she returns after the school year. A heart-wrenching story.
Lastly, 25 year-old math teacher Angel prefers to be called “Miss Angel” because she wants to inspire others. After sending money to her family back home each month, her parents are becoming accustomed to a new lifestyle. Her first grocery trip after returning home totals almost $500, and she has a real, hard talk with her family about not being obligated to support them, but rather helping to finance her siblings’ school tuitions so that they can get an education and also create a future for themselves.
Well-shot with perfectly-captured moments both in and out of the classroom, The Learning is a great film filled with reality, humour, tears, hardships, and of course, a lot of Karaoke singing and dancing. For more info, visit www.pbs.org/pov/learning.
Other shorts to check out at VAFF:
A Drummer’s Passion – An entertaining documentary about Kwon Soon Keun, a YouTube sensation who celebrated his 50th year of professional drumming. Once a celebrity in Korea as a member of the rock band, ADD-4, he is now 70 and living as a Canadian. Showing in Unlike No Other Friday November 4, 5pm.
The Queen – A hilarious comedy about a teen boy working at his parents’ dry cleaning business before prom weekend. Showing in Unlike No Other Friday November 4, 5pm.
