Why I make documentaries
My latest documentary teaser and the motivation for my work
Hi everyone,
In this newsletter, I share some updates on how my latest film is progressing and the motivation for why I make documentaries. I’m also sharing a special appeal to support the migrant shelter I’ve been working with to make this project happen. I explain why their services are so important and how big an impact the shelter has made on me in the process of making this film. But first, here’s a small teaser video introducing some of the main characters I have been following!
Teaser Video
Searching for meaning
For the past ten months, I have been working on a film about Bethune House - a shelter for distressed migrant women here in Hong Kong. For me making documentaries has been motivated by a deep, soul-searching urge to find meaning and make sense of my purpose and responsibility to the world. A large part of what drew me to documenting the shelter is the sense of purpose and courageousness I saw in the migrants despite the overwhelming odds they faced.
For the migrants in the shelter, the journey to pursue personal justice is strenuous and often unfruitful. Some have had their wages withheld while others have been abused by their employers. When they go to court to file their complaints, many times their claims are denied. And while there is deep disappointment when this happens, there is also something else that happens. As they relate to one another and others who have been through similar struggles, they begin to see that they are not alone. They gain a bigger picture of the world and a bigger picture of the way they can be part of creating a more just world that makes space for those who have been overlooked, like themselves.
In some ways, the formula of the shelter is pretty simple. Create a safe place for distressed migrants to sleep and food to eat; a place where they don’t have to be scared; a place where they can share their burdens with those who will understand. Teach migrants their rights. Help them feel brave and go with them to court. Encourage them when things don’t go as expected.
People are transformed when they experience care and empowerment. This is why migrant shelters like the Bethune House are so important, and this is why I’ve been so drawn to documenting what is happening there. I’ve found at the shelter a vision for how I want to be in the world. I’ve learned to take seriously the struggles I’m going through while also seeing these struggles as interconnected with others. As an immigrant kid of parents who left their homeland to give me a better life, I find myself interconnected with the struggles of distressed migrants who also fight for themselves and their families to have a better life. And so, in the pursuit of creating art and searching for meaning, I have found myself again welcomed and cared for by migrants, so I too no longer have to feel alone.
Facing Crisis
Right now, Bethune House is undergoing a financial crisis. Some grants they were expecting fell through - which reflects the larger state of funding opportunities to support the welfare of migrants in Hong Kong. Perhaps, the simplicity of their services gets too easily overlooked by institutions giving out grants and funding and by individuals who are simply unaware. Perhaps, as a collective society, we underestimate the importance of food, shelter, and space for collective healing and empowerment. So the longest-running shelter for migrant women in Hong Kong, operating for over 38 years, is in crisis of keeping their doors open.
Save Our Shelter
I’m making this documentary because I want people to see what’s happening inside - both at the shelter and within the migrants. I want to show how small, overlooked things - like a tiny 1,000 square foot shelter - can have an outsized impact in the world, and I want to support the work of the shelter in the process. I hope you’ll join me in this journey. Thanks as always for following along!
Francis Catedral is a Filipino American documentary filmmaker and Masters of Divinity graduate. His documentary projects are about the transnational activism of migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong and beyond.