A story of the American dream as imagined and chased after by a Filipino blue-collar worker, “TOTO,” will make its New York premiere at the coming annual Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF).
The debut feature of director John Paul Su, the dark comedy – starring Filipino actor Sid Lucero, who took home Best Actor at the Los Angeles Comedy Festival earlier this year for his role – will screen July 29 at the Village East Cinema, according to organizers.
The pic follows Antono “Toto” Estares, a hotel room service attendant in Manila struggling to support his family after the death of his father, who had left for America looking for glory but who instead died a penniless gambler.
As Toto tries and tries again to make it to the U.S., his hotel, in many ways, comes to represent America – the good, the bad and the ugly. As Toto tries and tries again to make it to the U.S., “it’s the power of his father’s dream that fuels him, not just for himself, but for those he loves, to help better their lives and achieve their own dreams,” the film’s description reads.
Su, the winner of the Directors Guild of America’s Best Asian American Student Filmmaker Award for “PAGPAG,” is one of NBCUniversal’s Emerging Directors.
AAIFF, presented by Asian CineVision, will run July 21 to 30 at venues in Manhattan and Queens.
