Created by Desireena Almoradie and Barbara Malaran.

This archival documentary traces the history of Kilawin Kolektibo, a pioneering collective of queer brown women who came together in NYC in the mid-nineties. Coined by the group’s founding members, the phrase Kilawin Kolektibo combines the name of a raw, spicy Filipino ceviche (Kilawin) with a portmanteau of collective (Kolektib) and a slang word for lesbian in Tagalog (tibo).

Having experienced marginalization in Filipino culture because of their queer identity and in mainstream gay culture because of their race, language, and gender, the individuals who made up Kilawin Kolektibo aimed to create a space that would celebrate both their queerness and their Filipinx culture. Coming together at a time before “intersectionality” became part of common parlance, Kilawin Kolektibo provided a home for a group of women who had been dismissed, demeaned, or rendered invisible not just by larger society but also by mainstream gay culture and the Filipino diasporic community. The members of the group sought political empowerment and increased visibility, but above all, they sought to create a space of friendship and safety for those who found themselves suspended between cultures and identities. Kilawin Kolektibo was an attempt to transform that experience of dislocation into one of joy and growth.

Culling from a treasure trove of over a quarter century’s worth of historic documentation that includes footage, photographs, interviews and ephemera, the film tells the inspiring story of queer Filipinxs who were searching for a community--a place where they could be open not only about their sexuality but also about their Filipinx culture. Living within a Euro-centric North American setting that often devalued their Philippine heritage, language, and food, and where the pressure to conform and assimilate was constant, these women found each other, empowered themselves, and forged connections that remained strong and powerful across national boundaries and continents.

From its sometimes incestuous sexual politics to the untimely death of one of its core members, the film serves as an exhilarating memorial to the identity-politics-steeped nineties. While focusing on a specific group, the feeling of nostalgia and sense of community that the film invokes is accessible to a universal audience.