Northern B.C. artist tells stories of Filipino diaspora in Fort St. John with help from grant

When Filipino Canadian artist Ovvian Castrillo Hill moved to Canada in 2009, she didn't experience too much of a culture shock, she says, having previously lived in the U.S. for a few years as a teenager.

But the 49-year-old artist, who lives in Fort St. John, says she soon realized other Filipino newcomers may have had a different experience. So she decided to make a documentary about their lives in Canada.

Nearly a decade after she conceived of the idea, Castrillo Hill is excited to learn her project would soon be coming to life: the documentary series, titled Ex-Situ: Thriving in Our New Bayan, has been selected for the Telus Storyhive 2021 Voices program.

Castrillo Hill is one of 91 content creators selected for the inaugural program, designed to fund and train emerging artists with screen-based projects such as films. Selected artists must live in one of the specified B.C. or Alberta communities to qualify, and film at least 80 per cent of their project in that community. 

Like the 90 other creators selected, Castrillo Hill will receive $10,000 to produce the documentary, which will explore the challenges and successes of members of the Filipino diaspora in B.C.'s Peace region. She says the grant money will go to hiring video professionals and renting equipment.

Castrillo Hill has several stories she plans to include, although she says she is still looking for more people to feature in the documentary, which she will start filming in February. The documentary is slated to launch in the fall. 

Filipinos are the largest Asian ethnic group in Fort St. John, home to nearly 28,000 people. According to a Statistics Canada census from 2016, there are more than 700 Filipinos living in the northeastern B.C. city.

"Newcomers, sometimes they feel that they don't have a voice," Castrillo Hill told host Carolina de Ryk on CBC's Daybreak North.

"It's not always easy for immigrants to come to Canada and especially in a place like Fort St. John, so … these individuals are the ones that I like to interview, [who] have thrived here in town." 

"I think their success stories are worth being told."

One of the stories she hopes to feature is that of Merlita Ryder, who came to Canada in 1999. 

Ryder, who graduated with a business administration degree in Manila, Philippines, worked as a live-in caregiver in Fort St. John. Eight years later, she started a recruitment agency for caregivers looking to work with Canadian families. In addition to the agency, she now also runs her own firm as a registered immigration consultant.

The mother of four says one of the things she struggled with is adapting to parenting culture in Canada.

"Our parents [in the Philippines] are kind of strict," Ryder said. "[When] our mom tells us, 'you have to be [home] for dinner,' you have to, otherwise you'll get in trouble … you're going to be beat up by a rod or a ruler.

"But here in Canada, I don't think I can do that."

Ryder says she hopes viewers of Castrillo's documentary would find that Filipino Canadians are hard-workers with diverse talents.

Yannie Lozana, who moved to Fort St. John in 2010, is another Filipino Canadian whose story Castrillo Hill hopes to feature.

The 31-year-old started participating in the city's pride parade several years ago, but as someone who identifies as a trans woman, Lozana says she still experiences discrimination.

"I meet people [in Fort St. John] and then they look at me and they're like, 'Oh, okay, just a normal woman, right?' But when I tell them, 'Actually, no, I'm not, I'm actually trans,' sometimes I have to say, 'I'm actually a dude.' And then some people are like, 'Oh, okay, I don't do anything with that blah blah blah.'

"It really hurts."

Lozana says she hopes after watching Castrillo's film, people in Fort St. John would become more tolerant of the LGBTQ community.

"The world is changing," she said. "I'm not asking you to accept me, but maybe just respect me and the others."

LISTEN | Ovvian Castrillo explains why she wants to document the lives of Filipino Canadians in Fort St. John

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