Filipino American History Month Celebration with Benito Bautista
The University of San Diego (USD) Copley Library invites you to celebrate Filipino American History Month with an evening of reflection, community, and celebration featuring Benito Bautista, an award-winning artist and film maker.
Benito Bautista is a San Diego–based Filipino artist and filmmaker drawn to stories rooted in his community and the social issues that shape its members’ lives. In 2017, he co-founded the nonprofit San Diego Filipino Cinema, presenter of the San Diego Filipino Film Festival. His work often elevates overlooked voices and cultural diversity, as seen in Harana: The Search for the Lost Art of Serenade, which won the Gawad Urian Award (Filipino Film Critics Award) for Best Documentary, the Asian Network of Documentary Award at the Busan International Film Festival, and Audience Awards at festivals including CAAMFest and the Hawaii International Film Festival. His feature narrative BOUNDARY, which explores political corruption and socio-economic inequality, received the NETPAC Award at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. His latest feature documentary, The Road to Sydney, was named Best Feature Documentary by both the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon and the Society of Filipino Film Reviewers’ Pinoy Rebyu Awards in 2026.
Bautista also produced A Long March by T.S. Botkin, a feature documentary about Filipino American World War II veterans still fighting to receive the full benefits they were promised. He co-produced A is for Agustin by Grace Simbulan, a feature documentary that follows a 40-year-old Indigenous man who enrolls in first grade in hopes of building a better future for himself and his family. In 2024, he won an Emmy Award (NATAS PSW) for Best Arts/Entertainment Program as producer of the short film Amazing Grace by Aiden Keltner, which tells the story of a mother caring for her adult son living with a serious mental illness (SMI).
Bautista has filmed in the Philippines, France, India, Japan, Costa Rica, and the U.S.
The event is free and open to the public. Dinner will be served after the program.