“The Van” Wins Best Narrative Short Film at 2023 SLO Film Fest, Music by Tangelene Bolton

The Van, scored by Tangelene Bolton, has won Best Narrative Short Film at the 2023 SLO Film Fest. Directed by Bernard Badion and starring Eugene Cordero and Raul Aranas, the film follows a son who tries to convince his father to move out of the old family home, to move on from the passing of the son’s mother. The father stubbornly refuses to oblige unless his rundown van comes with him, and in the endeavors made to fix it, the son realizes there is more than just the van that needs repairing between them.

As a Filipino-American, Badion discusses the significance of this film in a director’s statement:

I saw this film as an opportunity to speak about one of those things we [Filipinos] never speak about. To be vulnerable and speak about how we feel. I've never seen a story about grief from a Filipino-American lens and I am so proud that it exists. Through that struggle of grief, I hope I can connect this story universally.

For another chance to see the film, The Van will be premiering in Los Angeles at the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival on May 13th. Tickets and details can be found here.