Pinoy docu featured in Chicago filmfest

The movie “Dance of my Life", a video documentary about the life of Bessie Badilla, the first Filipina to become "Carnival Queen" in Brazil, was featured in a recent Filipino-American film festival in Chicago in the United States. Written and directed by Lyca Benitez-Brown, the 77-minute video documentary was shown in Tagalog with English subtitles. The showing of the movie highlighted the 8th Annual Chicago Filipino American Film Festival (CFAFF) from November 4 to 6 at the Portage Theatre in Chicago. “The festival opened with the movie Dance of my Life, a video documentary about Bessie Badilla who was the first Filipina ever to become Carnival Queen in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This was a unique achievement for a non-Brazilian and a woman ‘of a certain age,’" the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. Philippine Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim and Cultural Officer Berth Salvador attended the opening night reception on November 4. Herrera-Lim congratulated the Filipino American Network (FAN) for organizing the festival. FAN is a non-profit organization that supports Filipino-American young adults by providing resources to deepen their self-awareness about their Filipino heritage. Aside from "Dance of My Life," the other films featured were: