PANDEMIC BREAD

We all have experienced some loss during the COVID-19 pandemic, and my family lost a beloved brother. It is a deep pain that throbs and reverberates in tides and waves. Like my feature film, Compensation, Pandemic Bread is about communication. It’s a unique view of an interpreter’s world and how she negotiates an end-of-life call while engaging in the stress-relieving process of baking bread. Pandemic Bread is a cathartic artistic expression to ensure that we don’t forget what we went through and that we acknowledge our pain and grief rather than gloss over it.

The film features the performances of several powerful actresses; Old Globe-trained Claire Simba as Dr. Femi Balogun, Filipina singer and theater actress Becca Godinez as Remedios, the elderly patient with COVID-19, and revered actress Princess Punzalan who has won awards for her work in her native Philippines as Luz, the interpreter. Filipino communities nationally were some of the hardest hit by COVID-19, this film is a way to acknowledge this experience.

CREDITS
Writer: Marc Arthur Chery
Producer: Nicoletta Vangelisti, Christina Ree
Executive Producer: Zeinabu irene Davis
Director of Photography: Norbert Shieh
Editor: Rommel Andaya
Production Designer: Moriah Hayes
Composer: Kris Johnson
Sound Designer: Nakul Tiruviluamala
Music: Kris Johnson

Precedes

WHO WE BECOME

Directed by PJ Raval

As the world grapples with an emerging global pandemic, three young Filipino women forge unexpected connections with their families and discover themselves in the process through this self-documented time capsule, capturing the unbreakable bond between Filipino family and community during turbulent times.