A cross-cultural comedy about a Filipino American couple who celebrates life with karaoke music, superstitious in-laws, immigration laws, unexpected pregnancies, brown-outs, Thanksgiving turkey, with some love on the side, “Ang Turkey Man ay Pabo Rin” stars Tuesday Vargas, Travis Kraft, Julia Clarete, Cai Cortez and JM De Guzman.
The film is produced by Tonee Acejo with screenplay by Allan Habon, edited by Carlo Manatad, and Joris Fernandez, cinematographby Tom Redoble, music by Jedd Dumaguina, production design by Butch Garcia and Nette Madrid.
“Ang Turkey Man ay Pabo Rin” is an experimental comedy that explores the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of a Filipino-American couple on a universal love trip – that which do not discriminate against color, stature, or culture. It is a celebration of the Filipino experience in a foreigner’s perspective, and alternatively, the realization of the American dream in a Filipino’s eyes.
Fil-Am romantic relationships: We see a sampling of them in all places. The best stereotype is an ordinary-looking, gaudily-dressed Filipina clinging to an obviously older, casually-clad foreigner, caught in the bubble of their conversation, traversing the street as if it was their own. That visual often intrigues us, to say the least. What then, if we feature their lives amidst the judgment, bias and ridicule, beyond what we see in passing? What is their story?
The movie does just that, as it features one such couple: Cookie (Vargas) and Matthew Adams (Taft), a Filipino-American pair. The story begins when an online Fil-Am dating site decides to document a week in the life of these two site users who successfully found love in the net, with the aim of promoting such relationships through presenting the dynamics of their peculiar relationship.
The documentary opens with an introduction of the couple; their origins manifest a stark contrast at the onset. The show further establishes them as a couple by showing a typical day of the Adams. Hilarity ensues as the twosome strive to embrace each other’s cultural differences: Matthew encounters miscommunication, odd customs and unusual habits inherent to the Filipinos which he must be accustomed to (or else); while on Cookie’s end, the challenge is to successfully hurdle one of the most rigid and stringent examinations at present: the U.S. Immigration Citizenship Application.
Meanwhile, the online production team goes on to document milestones of the Fil-Am couple’s week, including (but not limited to) the following: eating balut; loud karaoke music; a telenovela sick leave marathon; food fight on a fiesta; black-outs and brownouts; the “A” word; ukay-ukay fashion shows; and a visit from superstitious in-laws; all culminating in an event we Filipinos have not imbibed despite a decades-long relationship with the United States: A Thanksgiving celebration, featuring arguably the most sumptuous centerpiece of all– the roast turkey. Every day lies a question: will their cultures clash and burn? Or will they succeed in receiving the best of both worlds?
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