Creating “Isang Dugo”

Albert Gregorio’s hopes and goals for their upcoming film focused on the Filipino-American experience

Story and photo by Theron Danielson

Albert Gregorio walks into their cramped apartment, which is currently doubling as a film set, holding two boxes of pizza for the group of student filmmakers handling camera and lighting. At the moment, everyone’s attention is focused on an actress whose arms are caked with fake blood.

“Pizza’s here!” Gregorio shouts.

Gregorio regularly provides support to fellow student filmmakers as a member of the Western Washington University Film Club. A member for multiple years, they often help with tasks such as fleshing out story ideas and handling tech equipment, and have even been known to offer up their apartment as a set for another student to use for filming a project of their own. 

They’re also chief operating officer of local film production company GAZE Films, an organization dedicated to highlighting queer and BIPOC voices in local genre cinema. Gregorio is set to make their GAZE Films directorial debut with their upcoming film “Isang Dugo.”

Caroline Grant, a key crewmember of Isang Dugo, noted the role Gregorio plays in supporting the local film community. 

“Albert is one of those people who wears many hats,” Grant said. “I really respect them.” 

Upon arriving at Western, Gregorio immediately felt something was missing. 

“The second I stepped on campus I realized something didn’t feel right,” Gregorio said. “There weren’t a lot of people that looked like me. There was something in my heart that said ‘I don’t belong.’”

Gregorio is a first-generation Filipino immigrant, having migrated to the U.S. in late 2008. 

“In my first year [at Western] I had an identity crisis,” Gregorio said. “I wasn’t a citizen and they denied me financial aid.”

The feeling of alienation was exacerbated through this status as a non-citizen. Surrounded by friends who were born in the U.S., finding an American identity was a difficult task for Gregorio.

“Going into the immigration agency, going into the government buildings, it was very dehumanizing,” Gregorio said. “Because I wasn’t American, I had to figure out what it meant to be American. I had to define it for myself.”

Gregorio’s love for watching films was sparked after they arrived in the U.S., providing a window into the vast community of filmmaking. The first movie they recalled watching had a measly 14% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, but that didn’t faze Gregorio.

“I’ve been watching movies since I immigrated here. My first memory of that was DragonBall Evolution. I didn’t even know it was bad; it was just a movie,” Gregorio said.

The first movie Gregorio recalls inspiring them was the critically-acclaimed South Korean movie “Parasite,” which was the first foreign film to win the Oscar for best overall picture. 

“That was the movie that opened the world to me,” Gregorio said. “A lot of the movies I grew up with were just fun, like how Scorsese described Avengers movies, ‘A roller coaster.’ ‘Parasite’ could do that, but it also got you thinking.”

Gregorio’s upcoming film “Isang Dugo” centers around their experience as a Filipino-American member of the Bellingham community. 

“It’s a culmination of those experiences,” Gregorio said. “Being a person of color in this space, I thought, ‘How do I find a voice in this?’”

Gregorio hopes the film will help bring comfort to others like them who felt afraid to express themselves. 

“If you can’t find a community, you make it,” Gregorio said. “That’s my goal.”

The concept of a horror film based on Bellingham’s racial issues also comes from its complicated history with white supremacy groups. Bellingham was massively under the influence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920’s. 

In 1929, Mayor John Kellogg gave a key to the city to the Grand Dragon (an officer of superior rank in the KKK hierarchy) of the KKK from Spokane. Bellingham also hosted the “Tulip Parade'' in 1926, which saw more than 700 participants march with the clan (via The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project).

The influence of white supremacy in Bellingham persists to this day. In 2019, a white nationalist group called the “Patriot Front” put posters and leaflets advertising themselves and their beliefs in downtown Bellingham.  Multiple hate group propaganda symbols, such as swastikas, have been reported at Western in multiple separate incidents since then.

“The fear, as a person of color on campus, or even in Bellingham, is hard to get away from unless you find a community,” Gregario said. 

Gregario’s enthusiasm for movies is endless, and they can easily talk for hours about their favorite film directors, their concepts and techniques. Their new project combines their passion for movies with the Filipino culture they were born into.

“I’ve been disconnected with Filipino culture for a good chunk of my life,” Gregorio said. “It wasn’t really accentuated in my upbringing. My dad was always working, my sisters had to go to school. I was left to my own devices, hence movies.” 

Certain aspects of Gregorio’s story are taken one-to-one from his real-life experiences. For instance, their ability to understand but not speak the official language of the Philippines.

“I can understand Tagalog but I can’t speak it. It’s called receptive bilingualism,” Gregorio said. “That’s something I want to weave into the story; a lot of Filipino immigrants have that sort of ability.”

Gregorio is always thinking of “Isang Dugo.” New ideas frequently spring into their mind, interrupting daily tasks.

“It’s everything to me right now. I’ll be sitting in bed or taking a shower and I’ll think of something I want to add to the script,” Gregorio said. “But I’m doing something I have to complete first.” 

The lead actor for “Isang Dugo,” Western student MJ Dizon, was determined to be part of the project from the beginning. As soon as Dizon heard there would be a movie centering around Filipino-American culture, he rushed to submit his credentials. 

“This is exactly what I want to do,” Dizon said. “I insisted on submitting a headshot and resume.”

Dizon promptly got into contact with Gregorio to get further information about the film, approaching them at Western’s Filipino American student club, WWU FASA.

“I started talking to Albert because we both go to FASA club together and he elaborated more on what this piece is about,” Dizon said. “I had to shake his hand and say, ‘Albert, hello, I’m MJ, I’m one of the few Filipino actors on this campus and I need to meet you.’”

Dizon believes that the film’s message is new and critical to the local indie film scene. 

“This film is a necessary film. I think it’s vital that it’s set in Bellingham,” Dizon said. “It presents a real and valid fear that Filipino-Americans like me and other people of color have, living in the city.”

Dizon explained how the film’s dialogue captures many specific yet common experiences for people of color living in Bellingham. One example is a conversation in the opening scene between Dizon’s character and his character’s co-star/boyfriend. 

“It’s perfectly written to encapsulate, ‘Oh, he means well, but if you really look into it he doesn’t sound right,’” Dizon said. “In the scene, my co-star tells me: ‘Oh, I love your skin, it’s the perfect shade.’”

Dizon is also enthusiastic about the project’s other themes regarding identity. Not only will the film pursue the experience of being a Filipino-American, it will also explore themes of queerness and intersectionality. 

“It’s going to get gay,” Dizon said.

Gregorio takes inspiration from many filmmaker's concepts, while also working to make them their own. For example, in Jordan Peele’s debut race-horror film “Get Out,” which stars an interracial couple, the lead’s girlfriend is used as a villain. Gregorio plans to use their own interracial lead couple to explore a genuine yet complicated queer relationship. 

Another key crew member, Madeline Ramirez, is looking forward to Gregorio’s take on Bellingham culture.

“I’ve been doing some graphic design work on the film,” Ramirez said. “I’m excited to see a Filipino filmmaker's perspective about Bellingham’s history and how they view its effect on today.” 

In the future, Gregorio would like to create some more lighthearted films. Along with their love for directors like Spike Lee, Jordan Peele and Bill Gunn, they also enjoy more light-hearted romantic comedies. They hope to later create a rom-com centered around a Filipino family. 

“I love family movies. I just want to make Hallmark films,” Gregorio joked. “I think it’s a genre that’s been completely whitewashed.”

Gregorio has garnered massive support in their endeavor to create Isang Dugo, including support from many members of the Bellingham film community, the Filipino community, and backers of a successful GoFundMe campaign for the movie, which reached its goal of $500.

“I’m grateful to have a local film community to support this endeavor. Alongside that, I’ve been blessed to receive endless support from established Filipino communities from the Filipino American Student Association on campus to the Filipino Community of Seattle,” Gregorio said. “I am eternally grateful to my financial supporters from the Isang Dugo GoFundMe. I am blessed to work with a budget at all.”

The project is still in its early stages of production. To stay up to date on its progress, visit the film’s official Instagram page @isang_dugo_shortfilm.