Theater, Boxing Ring, Kitchen

There was hardly a dry eye in the room when the audience of almost 200 people watched the closing credits roll in Jose Antonio Vargas' film, "Documented." The screening on April 19 at Golden Gate University in San Francisco was Positively Filipino’s first public event.

A heartfelt narrative of his personal journey as an undocumented American, the hour-and-a-half documentary is also a powerful argument for immigration reform as well as a heartbreaking testament to the difficult life of TNTs (aka tago nang tago), the 11 million-strong who continue to hope for their slice of the American dream. As Fil-Am author Marianne Villanueva wrote in her Facebook posting, "He won me over. I was sitting on the fence until I saw the movie. Very moving."

"Documented" will be shown on CNN in May and in theaters nationwide in the months to come. Go to DefineAmerican.com for the schedule in your area.

Shifting to theater, contributor Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz introduces us to the vibrant Los Angeles theater scene with "Musical with a Scent of History," a review of "Cinnamon Girl," the latest directorial achievement of Fil-Am director Jon Lawrence Rivera. "Cinnamon Girl," which recently ended its run, had Filipino American stage actors in lead roles—a testament to the wide reach of Filipino talents in the arts.

In sports, journalist Rafe Bartholomew who authored the highly acclaimed book, Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin' in Flip-Flops and the Philippines' Unlikely Love Affair with Basketball (if you haven't read it yet, go to Amazon.com now. You won't regret it), shifts his focus to the recently fought Paquiao vs. Bradley fight. In "Manny Being Manny," Bartolomew not only gives a behind-the-scenes account of the match, but also reveals a continuing fascination and affection for the country and the people who hosted him as a Fulbright scholar years back.

After the exertion comes the eating. Chef Erwin Joven who has cooked for vacationing celebrities as the then-executive chef of Cotton House in the very exclusive Mustique Island enclave of the very rich, shares his story and some of his recipes in "Prep Globally, Cook Locally" with our regular food writer, Elizabeth Ann Quirino. The adventurous Joven has moved on from Mustique to Fiji on his way to becoming a truly global chef (as in global citizen).

We hope you will enjoy our stories and share them with your friends.