Life Updates – Adrian Alarilla

Poem featured in 4Culture’s Poetry in Public

It’s an honor to be featured once more at 4Culture’s Poetry in Public. This year’s theme was “Places of Landing.” I wrote a poem in Tagalog called “Sa Laot” (At Sea). READ HERE

New Essay Published in Wasafiri special issue

My essay, “Passionate Engagements, Intimate Entrapments: Love, War, and Those Caught Between EMPIRE and Nation” has been published in Wasafiri Magazine as part of a special issue on Southeast Asia and the Littoral. Earlier, a version of this article was also conferred the 2023 Biography Prize by the Center for Biographical Research (CBR) at theContinue reading “New Essay Published in Wasafiri special issue”

Kung Saan Man Tayo Screening at the University of the Philippines Film Center!

I’m very excited to screen my film, Kung Saan Man Tayo, at the University of the Philippines Film Center this November 29, 2023 at 4pm. This is going to be a sort of homecoming for me and this film; many years ago, I conceptualized of this film as a way for myself to reflect onContinue reading “Kung Saan Man Tayo Screening at the University of the Philippines Film Center!”

Coming to America Stories

I am excited to participate in the Filipino American National Historical Society – Seattle Chapter‘s upcoming event, Coming to America. Alongside other speakers, I will be speaking about my own migration story vis-a-vis my family’s story and the bigger story of Spanish and American Colonialism. Admission is free tomorrow, October 28, 2023, 6-8pm, at theContinue reading “Coming to America Stories”

Featured at CBS News Bay Area

When I moved to Seattle from the Philippines in 2010, I was still a bright-eyed and optimistic film school graduate excited to launch a filmmaking career. Alas, as fate would have it, I was needed in some other capacity. Seattle really wasn’t (and I’m afraid still isn’t) the most hospitable place for emerging filmmakers. Admittedly,Continue reading “Featured at CBS News Bay Area”

Report on Mental Health Supports in Alaska’s Schools now out!

Last year, my team and I at Stellar Group were contracted by the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority to write a report on mental and behavioral health needs in Alaska’s public schools. We conducted interviews, did a policy analysis and gathered indicator data, ultimately highlighting various strategies done by school districts to provide better mentalContinue reading “Report on Mental Health Supports in Alaska’s Schools now out!”

The 2022 Destiny City Film Festival

Destiny City Film Festival is a homegrown community event in Tacoma built to showcase the best independent films from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. DCFF has traditionally been hosted by one of Tacoma’s oldest movie theaters and, at nearly 100 years old, is one of the oldest continuously operating movie theaters in the country—the historicContinue reading “The 2022 Destiny City Film Festival”

UH CSEAS virtual Screening of Kung Saan Man Tayo (Wherever We May Be)

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Center for Southeast Asian Studies is hosting a virtual screening of Kung Saan Man Tayo (Wherever We May Be) next month. It will be screening online for free from February 4 to 9, following by a panel discussion with me, my co-filmmaker Kenneth Cardenas, and Maria Karaan on February 9,Continue reading “UH CSEAS virtual Screening of Kung Saan Man Tayo (Wherever We May Be)”

Article out now in the latest issue of Pelikula Journal!

Pelikula: A Journal of Philippine Cinema is published annually by the University of the Philippines Film Institute. It broadly covers national and regional perspectives on Philippine cinema and publishes academic articles, opinion pieces, reviews, interviews, and visual essays. I am so excited to be part of the latest issue that just came out. My essayContinue reading “Article out now in the latest issue of Pelikula Journal!”