STRANGE  LAND, a documentary film                                           return to website

WORLD PREMIERE:  The 2006 Hawaii International Film Festival, Oct. 25, 2006 

 Synopsis      VIEW TRAILER (1 MIN.)  click here

Meeting and marrying a Hawaii-born Filipino American during World War II in the war-torn Philippines , Norma Vega reluctantly comes to America , a strange land. It means leaving a culture, her family, and a homeland that she cherishes. Struggling to adapt and to make a home for herself and her new family, Norma lives with regrets and a bottomless longing for her home across the sea and the family she left there, that is until something changes all that.

This tribute to my mom is a tribute to all war brides who left their homelands and their families and their cultures to begin a new life in America with their soldier husbands.

My mother became a war bride, not because she fell in love with my father the soldier, but because America provided an escape from the war torn Philippines and represented dreams and a hope for a better life. What happened to her dreams? Were they fulfilled? Was her sacrifice worth it?

My mother's story is like that of hundreds of thousands of women from some 50 countries who were GI brides from Asia and Europe . During commemorations of WWII, little is said about these brave women and the pain and heartache they felt leaving home for a dream, or about the families they helped start in America after the war, or the contributions they made.

My hope is that Americans will pay tribute with me to these brave women who came to this strange land determined to make a home for their American-born children to come.

Production Credits

            Director, producer, writer, cinematography, editor – Stephanie J. Castillo

            Featuring – Norma Vega Castillo

About Norma Vega Castillo

            Norma was born in the central Philippines to a large family of Tagalog and Spanish descent.  She spent her teen years under Japanese occupation during World War II.  After the war, she met Wallace Castillo, a Hawaii-born son of a Filipino immigrant.  After a short period of courtship, the two married in Manila and Norma followed her soldier husband to Hawaii where her life in America began. 

As a military family, the Castillo’s lived in Japan and the Philippines until 1967 when they returned to Hawaii .  Norma is widowed now and lives with one of her daughters on the island of Kauai . Now in her late 70’s, her life is full of grandchildren and great grans, and Filipino friends who help keep her young and active. 

Director’s Statement

As Hawaii 's most prominent independent Filipino American filmmaker, I prepared this film portrait of my mother as one of three portraits of Hawaii Filipino Americans as a contribution to the upcoming Filipino Centennial Celebration in 2006.  My intent is to offer these for use in planned conferences and forums that year, in local PBS broadcasts, and in local and national film festivals. 

STRANGE  LAND  is the second portrait to be finished; the first was REMEMBER THE BOYS, the story of WWII veteran and Hawaii-born, son of an immigrant, Domingo Los Banos and his Hawaii boys cohorts.  It was shown last year at the Hawaii International Film Festival. 

The third portrait I hope to complete in 2007 will feature Corky Trinidad, an independent, nationally syndicated political cartoonist whose work is published daily in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.          

The three profiles I have selected reflect my desire as a Filipino American filmmaker to pay tribute to Filipino Americans in Hawaii that have touched our community in very tangible ways, though not always very visible to the public.  All three have been an inspiration to me and cause me to want to hold them up and celebrate them in the centennial year of 2006. 

I am the principal underwriter of this 90-minute film trilogy, donating my time and equipment and effort.  A small grant to cover a small part of my cost was awarded the project by the 2006 Filipino Immigration Centennial Celebration Committee.