OFFICIAL TRAILER
Our Journey
- 06/13/2023 DVD
- 05/30/2023 Video-On-Demand
- 05/27/2023 Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles
- 05/26/2023 Haven Everly
- 05/26/2023 Soundtrack
- 05/17/2023 New York Film Academy, New York City
- 04/02/2023 Rutgers Cinema, New Jersey
- 03/10/2023 Cinemark Egyptian 24, Baltimore County
- 03/08/2023 Mallorie Ortega, Barkada DMV
- 10/01/2021 The Regal Los Angeles, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
- 08/20/2021 Best Picture, Best Director (Mallorie Ortega), Best Lead Performance (Haven Everly) and Best Supporting Performance (Emy Coligado), DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival
- 07/25/2021 AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival
- 07/15/2021 The Washington Post’s Going Out Guide
- 07/15/2021 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival, streams through July 25
- 03/20/2021 DisOrient Asian American Film Festival, streams through March 29
- 03/13/2021 Gold Winner, World London Film Festival
- 03/04/2021 Seattle Asian American Film Festival, streams through March 14
- 12/25/2020 Cinema Sala, streams through January 1
- 11/22/2020 The Consolidate Mililani Theater in Honolulu, Hawai‘i International Film Festival
- 11/06/2020 Paolo Montalban
- 11/05/2020 Hawai‘i International Film Festival, streams through November 29
- 10/31/2020 Emerging Filmmaker Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
- 10/22/2020 Narrative Audience Award, Center for Asian American Media Fest Forward Film Festival
- 10/17/2020 Haven Everly and Emy Coligado
- 10/14/2020 The Center for Asian American Media Fest Forward Film Festival, streams through October 18
- 10/01/2020 Emy Coligado
- 10/01/2020 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, streams through October 4
- 09/17/2019 Name Change from Nanay Ko
- 06/10/2019 Cabaret Fundraiser, Bowery Poetry Club, New York, New York
- 09/15/2018 Table Reading/Fundraiser, Dramatists Guild Foundation, New York, New York
- 09/01/2018 Table Reading/Fundraiser, Gerel's Workplace, Rockville, Maryland
- 07/21/2018 Table Reading/Fundraiser, University of Maryland Baltimore Campus
. . .
The Girl Who Left Home is the first Filipino American musical feature film. It tells the story of a Filipina American whose ambitions are at odds with her family obligations. It won the 2020 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Award, 2020 CAAMFest FORWARD Audience Award, and the 2021 DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance.
Main Cast
Haven Everly, Emy Coligado, Paolo Montalban, Lora Nicolas, Liz Casasola
Credits
Director, Writer, Lyricist, Producer: Mallorie Ortega
Producer: Russwin Francisco, Angelo Santos, Emy Coligado
Executive Producer: Dylan Thai, Christine Cathcart
Associate Producer: DonMike Mendoza
Director of Photography: Matthew Halla
Editor: Lindsay Armstrong, Katie McClellan
Sound: Diana Chi
Music: Alex Winkler
Lyricist: Steve Greist
Recognitions
2020 Emerging Filmmaker Award | LAPFF
2020 Narrative Audience Award | CAAMFF
2021 Gold Winner | WLFF
2021 Best Picture | DC APAFF
2021 Best Director | DC APAFF
2021 Best Lead Performance | DC APAFF
2021 Best Supporting Performance | DC APAFF
Articles
- The Girl Who Left Home comes home
- The Girl Who Left Home makes it to Hawai'i
- The Girl Who Left Home goes to CAAMFest
- The Girl Who Left Home to premier at the LAAPFF
The Girl Who Left Home (2020)
The Girl Who Left Home is a Filipino American musical dramedy written and directed by Mallorie Ortega, starring Haven Everly, Emy Coligado, Paolo Montalban, Lora Nicolas, and Liz Casasola. Produced by Ortega, Coligado, Russwin Francisco, and an ensemble of independent filmmakers, the film is recognized as the first Filipino American musical feature film and won Best Picture at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.
Set against the autumn backdrop of suburban Maryland, the film follows an aspiring actress whose promising stage career is interrupted by the sudden death of her father. Returning home after a year of estrangement, she reunites with her mother and discovers that the family restaurant is on the brink of financial collapse.
Reluctantly stepping back into the life she left behind, she struggles to save the restaurant while confronting family tensions, unresolved grief, and unexpected revelations. Through music, humor, and heartfelt storytelling, the film explores themes of love, forgiveness, cultural identity, and the meaning of home.
Celebrating Filipino American culture through its music, family traditions, and cuisine, The Girl Who Left Home brings an underrepresented perspective to the American movie musical.
Where there is life, there still lies hope.
Mallorie Ortega