Features

Texas Standard

By: Libby Cohen

Paragas had many influences on her journey to becoming a filmmaker, including the city of Austin, where she went to college, and Lea Salonga, the Filipina American voice actor who played Disney princesses Mulan and Jasmine. But she says perhaps most influential was being a Filipina immigrant in all-white Texas classrooms as a kid.

BlackFilm

By: Wilson Morales

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE (U.S. CINEMA) – Yellow Rose – Directed by Diane Paragas
(Presented by Doris Casap)

NBC News

By: Saleah Blancaflor

Inspired by her own upbringing in the heart of Texas, Paragas wanted to make a film with her hometown of Austin as the setting and spent 15 years developing the movie…Paragas added that representation of Filipino Americans was important to her in order to tell this story. “As a Filipina American, I feel like we are mostly invisible as a subset of Asian Americans. Filipinos have played other Asians, but you rarely see a Filipino being a Filipino," she said.

Women and Hollywood

By: Sophia Stewart

But “Yellow Rose” isn’t just a musical romp through an Americana world—it’s also a deeply felt and at times tragic look at the lives of the undocumented. Rose’s mother is ripped from her violently; she must flee in order to stay in the only town she’s ever known. While her singing is mesmerizing and her lyrics are beautiful, they are the only solace Rose has in the face of aching loneliness, debilitating fear, and, most profoundly, supreme injustice.

CharacterMedia

By: Mae Hamilton

“I tried my best to just tell a human story without being too political,” Paragas said. “I don’t think being preachy in a movie is ever a good thing, but the movie is a window into the experience of being an immigrant. The movie is ultimately about acceptance and what it takes to be accepted in music, as a citizen and as a human being.” As many a lonesome, roving cowboy has discovered, there’s something to be said about finding a place to hang your hat.