[Redacted]

[Redacted] is a coming of age short documentary film. Filmed from the perspective of the director, Kim Manalang, who is navigating the loss of the person she thought would spend the rest of her life with. As the protagonist goes through this process, she leans heavily on her support systems in unexpected new ways. While growing up, she craved emotions of love and happiness, but shunned so-called “bad” ones that deal with sadness, grief, and anger. For the past twenty-three years of her life, she was able to keep these bad emotions to herself and was able to mask around her mother. When she allows her mother to see her in such a vulnerable state, she brings to light the differences between how they process emotions. While Kim adjusts to this new relationship with her mother, she turns to her friend , Flor, as she reflects on the relationship and how at the end of the day it was a beautiful transformation despite the tumultuous journey to get to this point. [Redacted] de-centers the person who Kim once loved and re-centers herself. This film is about her journey towards facing the harsh truth of emotions and the beginning of her own journey towards healing.

  • Kimberly Mae Calotes Manalang
    Director
  • Kimberly Mae Calotes Manalang
    Writer
  • Drew Swedberg
    Producer
  • Kimberly Mae Calotes Manalang
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Flor de Maria S. Caceres Godoy
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Arlenda Calotes
    Key Cast
    "Herself"
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Coming of Age, heartbreak, Fiction-Documentary Hybrid, Romance
  • Runtime:
    21 minutes 19 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 3, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kimberly Mae Calotes Manalang

(Kim)berly Mae Calotes Manalang, pronouns She/her/hers, was born and raised in the DMV. Her mother, Arlenda Manalang, immigrated from Bohol, Philippines and raised Kim by herself, instilling in her the importance of independence and hardwork. Kim attended Lafayette College majoring in Biology and is on track to becoming a physician who strives to be an advocate and educator to her future patients. Between studying for her STEM focused classes and doing research in her lab, Kim has always loved storytelling and found herself being drawn to filmmaking. She was able to start diving into her interests by taking film courses her senior year of college creating works for her social justice awareness weeks and even her first social commentary short documentary on AAPI representation at my own college called “What does it mean to be seen?” as her senior project. Currently, Kim works at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Health working on understanding the immune system and potential insight on HIV therapeutics. While her work is mainly in science, she loves the overlap in creativity and thinking outside the box when approaching scientific problems and creating stories through film. Kim uses film to push her boundaries of understanding as she tends to keep things to a literal sense. [Redacted] is her first project since college and is her first film to push her out of comfort zone in terms of portraying meaning through a documentary-fictional hybrid form.

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Director Statement

[Redacted] will come from a very vulnerable place, as heartbreak and processing the loss of someone who was such a big part of one’s life is difficult for anyone. Despite the circumstances, I finally chose myself and slowly moved forward through learning more about my culture and deepening my familial and platonic relationships. While it might sound obvious to focus on myself and move on from a relationship that no longer supported me, losing someone who is still alive and doesn't care for you like they once did was time stopping. Hearing the words “I fell out of love with you” when it was in neither of your control was heartbreaking. I wanted to visually process my emotions and my attempt to lose my need for control in situations, stopping the self blame and reconnecting to myself. I hope this film reaches people who have been in similar situations, but ultimately it is an archive of an important part of my life journey.