How 'Forgotten Island' is a 'love letter' to Filipino culture and is making people feel seen
A new film is having many Filipinos say, "Tayo Na!"
In English, the Tagalog phrase translates to "Let's Go!" and it's what initiates an epic adventure for two best friends in Dreamworks Animation's new film, "Forgotten Island," out in theaters on Sept. 25.
Directed by longtime friends Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, "Forgotten Island" is the first time that a major Hollywood studio has backed a full-length feature film about Filipino folklore and mythology. It's also giving many Filipinos a reason to celebrate.
"I feel like every time I've screened this movie, Filipinos have come up to me and they're like, I feel even more proud to be a Filipino after seeing this film," Liza Soberano, who voices Raissa in the film, told ABC News at a special community screening in late August.
She added, "It makes me very excited for the rest of the world to see it, even people who aren't Filipino, because I feel it's such a universal story that anyone can identify with."
At the center of Crawford's and Mercado's film is a friendship between two best friends named Jo (H .E. R.) and Raissa as they navigate their friendship and impending separation when one prepares to leave for college.
While celebrating their last night together, the duo stumble upon a mysterious portal that transports them to the fantastical island of Nakali where they meet the magical and mythological creatures they grew up hearing stories about from their families.
With the storyline of a friend moving away, the film touches on the fear of abandonment that many in the Philippines experience when a family member or friend moves away to build a better life for themselves overseas.
Soberano, who lived her early years in the U.S. but moved to the Philippines to live with her dad as a child, said that she identified with the more emotional parts of the film when Raissa and Jo realize that their friendship might change forever, adding that her younger sister came to mind.
"When I got cast in this film and I moved, she was actually the person that I was scared of leaving the most because she was only 7 when I left," she said.
Soberano noted that that she always wanted to maintain a sense of closeness with her little sister after she and her other siblings had grown up in different households.
Like the film's two main characters, its directors also have a friendship that began almost two decades ago when they were storyboard artists at Dreamworks. The duo had always dreamt of working on something original that honored Filipino culture together.
At the community screening, Mercado, who is Filipino American, said that he was drawn to the friendship between Jo and Raissa, the mythology and also the idea of paying homage to the women in his family as well as Crawford's, whose wife is Filipino.
"Forgotten Island" comes amid continued conversation across Hollywood about Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander representation in film. While there have been significant strides toward greater AANHPI representation in media over the years, Filipino representation remains limited on the big screen.
A University of Southern California Annenberg study found that Filipino actors accounted for just 6.1% of AAPI actors featured in 200 top-grossing films released in 2018 and 2019. Against that backdrop, "Forgotten Island" offers a rare opportunity to center Filipino characters and culture in a major animated film.
In May, Mercado, H.E.R. and Soberano told "Good Morning America" that the film is a "love letter to Filipino culture."
"Representation is so important," H.E.R. said. "I just love being in an animated film and just talking about celebrating Filipino culture."
"It means the world to me to see the Philippines and Filipino people and the culture just showcased on the big screen," Soberano added. "This is the first time that there's a global Filipino project where you actually see the Philippines in all its glory, even if it's animated."
"Forgotten Island" also stars Lea Salonga -- who became the first Filipina to get a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on Friday -- Manny Jacinto, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Dolly De Leon, Ronny Chieng and Kevin McCann.
