Highlights
- Caleb’s first short film Filo Boy was constantly rejected.
- Initially, Anak was set to be a short film but ended up becoming a 91-minute film.
- His film drew inspiration from his family’s experiences.
"We were having lunch somewhere and I was reading my email, I got into my very first festival and it was MIFF! I started crying. My girlfriend thought something really bad happened," 22-year old Caleb Ribates shares.
The news couldn't have come at a better time - just when the young filmmaker was starting to lose confidence in his work.
Difficult start
"I broke into tears when I saw the email, it was such a tough place to get to," he says.
It wasn't an easy journey for the Filipino-Australian director, his post-graduate journey into filmmaking started with many rejections; prior to Anak, Caleb produced a short film Filo Boy. He was losing confidence and becoming weary, and reading that email from MIFF organizers was just what he needed to re-energize his soul.
Caleb with his father and sister. "Growing up I always felt different" Caleb on growing up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne in the nineties Source: Caleb Ribates
Anak (Child)
“I don’t think I’m the child in this film. I think it’s a representation of the different experiences every Filipino child experiences in this contemporary diaspora.”
The male characters in the film, however, drew inspiration from Caleb's father and uncle who were both born and raised in the Philippines.
“The lead character, Harry is named after my uncle. Most characters are named after people I know.
"A lot of the masculine phrase is inspired by how my family is. There is a difference between people raised and born in the motherland and a difference in identity and masculine persona with people who grew up here.”
The Filipino-Australian filmmaker explains that by drawing from those experiences, he saw that “there’s a significance in this masculine identity, in what it means to be a man while missing all those types of experiences and nuances and how it affects them in this context”.
Caleb, however, clarifies that his father and uncles have never imposed their version of masculinity and in a sense allowed him to discover his own masculinity considering the Australian way of life and environment. “They wanted to make sure that growing up, if someone ever bullied me, I would be able to stand for myself.”
Growing up Filipino
“I grew up in the northern suburbs in the 2000s, while there were Asians, there were Filipinos but the ratio was very small. I was always insecure as a child about being different. Having a different skin color, and different food for lunch. I was always shy about that, but as I come to understand the cultural changes and nuances in society, I kind of got over that but as I kid I think a lot of people were really affected.”
Over time, he's discovered his unique Filipino-Australian identity.
"To be honest, I’m still looking...This film at the beginning it says part of a collection of a lost child’s wanderings, part of collection films or expressions of me trying to navigate who I am and my thoughts as a person. At this moment, I’m proud to be, I feel like I’m Filipino, I feel like I’m Australian. It’s a very different space to be in.”
"Matthew has been very supportive and encouraging of my work" Caleb on fellow Fil-Aus Fimlmaker Matthew Victor Pastor Source: Caleb Ribatas
Meeting of two Filo boys
Caleb was introduced to Filipino Australian filmmaker and fellow VCA alumni Mathew Victor Pastor during his final year at the Victorian College of the Arts.
“He was very supportive, he really established the significance of what we are trying to do.”
After finishing his course Caleb set out a goal for himself.
"I said I didn’t want to be one of those students who stopped making film after uni. I set out a goal of six short films. As I was writing Anak, I realized this was going to be more than a short film. I wrote it, sent it to Matthew and he loved it and gave me the encouragement I needed.”
