Ralph Torrefranca’s coming-of-age short film “FIL-AM“ will make its World Premiere in the Narrative Shorts section at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Santa Barbara Film Center with an encore screening. The project is compelling on its own, but also shows promise as a proof-of-concept for a feature.
Based on a true story, in “FIL-AM,” 16-year-old Filipino kid Jonah (Deuce Basco) from inner city Milpitas, CA, is forced to leave his old life behind in 2003 for the terrifying new world of Santa Barbara. Jonah’s world is equally dangerous as everyday life in the inner city. He’s a hustler, brother, and son in a Filipino-American family, but his world comes crumbling down when his mom (Madeleine Humphries) and new stepdad (Hunter Stiebel) break the news that they are moving, and Jonah needs to face the harsh reality of what it really means to be “American.”
On world-premiering in Santa Barbara, he shared, “Santa Barbara will always be a special place for me. From finding my lifelong friends during high school to being embraced by a community that accepted me as a musician and filmmaker. It’s truly meaningful to bring “FIL-AM” back home to the place that inspired this story in the first place.”
Santa Barbara native Ralph Torrefranca is a Filipino American award-winning writer, director, and musician currently based in Los Angeles. His short film “Champagne Social” premiered at the 2019 IFS Film Festival in LA, where Ralph was named Best Director at the festival.
His feature screenplay “RIFF” also made the Top 20% of the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in 2021. The feature script for “FIL-AM” was selected by the Toronto International Film Festival for their Gold Pitch Event in 2024 and, most recently, made the 2nd round of the Sundance Labs.
Torrefranca is also an accomplished musician, best known as the lead singer/guitarist of the post-punk/alt rock band Cuffed Up (KEXP, KCRW, BBC), who were SXSW Official Artists in 2021 and 2023. He is a former DJ at local radio station KJEE.
