2020 Fall Wonder Woman 1984 Director PATTY JENKINS Issue

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THE MILITARY B.R.A.T. BEHIND

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AN OFFICER'S DAUGHTER

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For those in-between culture, race, ethnicity, nation or location, we empower communication at the intersection of social justice and cultural fluidity.

CONTENTS

FALL 2020

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FEATURES ON OUR COVER

32 Military B.R.A.T., Adult TCK and futurist Patty Jenkins has been called one of the planet’s hottest directors.

She began traveling the world at six months old. By her early teens, she know art would play a big part in her future; in retrospect, however, globetrotting, a fighter pilot father and before-her-time feminist mother would shape her thinking. Who knew these experiences would spark her desire to create one of the most epic superhero movies of all time?

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

40 DESTINATION:

Merida, Yucatan

18 An Officer’s Daughter Returns to Vietnam

This Officer’s daughter made a brave trek to Vietnam to retrace her father’s time as a helicopter pilot during war. Little did she know the trip would foster healing for two generations on opposite sides of an ocean.

Soulful, storied, colourful — our trip to Merida, Yucatan is just the quiet that’s needed during these turbulent times.

48 Culturs Celebrations!

More than just cuisine: Join us on a bi-lingual journey with the people, the food and the love of this historic land called Yucatan.

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Isreali Actor Gal Gadot on the Set of “Wonder Woman 1984.”

82 The Stone Masons of Kashmir

Sometimes mundane items passed in the hustle-bustle of life are just what we need to savor what’s most precious.

57 FINDING HOME From Hong Kong to Scotland: TCK Artist Peter Lo shows how fine art can be an act of kindness for the soul.

THE MUST LIST 64 Must See: A Creative Revives Historic Bollywood Posters 66 Must Read: This Polish Expat’s Life Work is Delicious 70 Must Watch: A First Nations Filmmaker Upends the Pandemic 72 Must Buy: Radical. Self.

Care. with GoDeep 104 Must Buy: Unlock Your Limitless Potential with Kendama

IN EVERY ISSUE 6 Contributors 10

Culturally Fluid Definitions

12 Publisher’s Letter 13 Cultural Connections 86 Technology 92 Transnational Third Culture Kid Filmmakers 98 Behind the scenes www.CultursMag.com

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CONTRIBUTORS MUDABBIR AHMAD TAK has a Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism and currently is a Doctoral Candidate in India. He is an independent journalist published in AfterImage, New York, U.S.A., the newspaper “Kashmir Life,” and magazines like “Kashmir Narrator” in India. He has taught Mass Communication and Journalism at the Women’s College, Srinagar, India. In his photo essay on the stone carvers of Kashmir, he captures the work and life of the stone carvers and tries to convey tremendous toil produces such necessary outcomes.

Adult Third Culture Kid and Military B.R.A.T. GERALD AMBROSINE proudly hails from an Afro-Latin heritage. An avid photographer, Ambrosine’s work has been featured in the best-selling magazine Where Women Work as well as award-winning Culturs Magazine. A lover of computers, technology and motorcycles, Ambrosine has honed his photography skills for more than two decades. This world traveler has roots in North, Central and South America, and also has lived in Europe, Asia and Africa. He is a proud retired veteran of the United States Air Force.

GERTRUDIS BASTO ESTRELLA, born and raised in Merida, Mexico, she has a PhD in science from the “Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan.” She runs her own business at home of rejuvenating massages and supplements. Wife and mother of two daughters, her specialty is her nutritious homemade food with a Yucatecan touch.

ANDREA BAZOIN (pronounced “Bah-Zwah”) is a higher education professional turned entrepreneur. She is the founder of everHuman, LLC (www.everhuman.io), a company that provides tech support alongside coaching, project assistance and workshops delivered with both expertise and empathy. Her family ties span the globe and include Chile, Argentina, Australia and France. She currently lives in Fort Collins, Colo., with her French husband and culturally fluid son.

TODD CORNELL is a U.S.-born Chinese cultural scholar, linguist and business consultant who spent his formative years in China. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies and is the principal of Cultur668, a consulting service for U.S. companies doing business in China.

Third Culture Kid Expert MYRA DUMAPIAS is the Chief Executive Officer of TCKidNOW, which has been featured on the BBC, ABC News, The Telegraph, the U.S. Department of Defense and Education Week, and helped thousands discover their TCK identity and find a sense of belonging long before there mention of the term on social media. TCKidNow provides traumainformed educational outreach about the lifetime impact of a transnational upbringing. While acknowledging the role healing plays in helping TCKs recognize and develop their skills, TCKidNOW fosters connections that not only help TCKs find a sense of belonging and give back to the world they grew up in. Dumapias holds a Bachelor’s in English and World Literature and a Master’s in Social Work.

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CONTRIBUTORS ANTOINETTE LEE TOSCANO is an Adult Cross-Culture Kid and Third Culture Adult with family having ancestry from both India and Jamaica. A United States Army veteran and former IT corporate executive, she considers herself a writer, transformational speaker and blogger. For Culturs, she focuses on stories surrounding creating your biggest and happiest life possible. Toscano supports the local veteran community by volunteering as the marketing coordinator for the veteran’s recreational sports organization Team River Runner and Co-founder of Diversify Whitewater.

PETER LO Growing up as a third culture kid with a rich but very diverse heritage; from Scotland to China to India to Malaysia, as a serial expat, and lover of travel, I am no stranger to transitions and the richness of exploration. This tension expresses itself in my artwork. I paint to capture magical memories in time of “home” to promote a sense of well-being through belonging – of being able to be home whilst being away.

Military B.R.A.T. TOMMY MCMILLION is a Domestic Third Culture Kid who grew up in Texas and later lived in Colo., New York and Las Vegas. As a student of art, McMillion was able to turn his passion for music, photography and graphic design into a career.

Since 1997, he has created unique compositions for local, national and international talent and businesses. As a professional photographer, McMillion specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, urban life and entertainment. McMillion is the founder and co-owner of McMillion Multimedia, a firm specializing in brand development, promotions, and marketing solutions for the entertainment industry while actively targeting the five senses through use of the meme senses methodology.

DONNA MUSIL is an American documentary filmmaker, writer and activist exploring the subculture of U.S. military B.R.A.T.s. She wrote and directed the award-winning 2006 documentary “Brats: Our Journey Home,” a film about growing up the child of a military family and the effect it has on that child’s adult life. She is also the founder of Brats Without Borders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness, celebration and support for military B.R.A.T.s and other third culture children.

Australia-based SWARNALI SIKDER DAS produces content for Culturs because she believes it is important for people from all over the world with all different stories to have a medium where their stories can be shared. She is passionate about different cultures, fashion and fighting domestic abuse.

As a professional model and actor, she always wanted to work on strong concepts which can reach out to masses and influence people from different parts of the world. She believes it’s time for all of us get and make this world a better place to live with love and respect for each other.

DIANA VEGA is a Third Culture Adult. Born in Mexico and passioned about design, they studied architecture and started a small a business after college. Interested in entrepreneurship, Vega moved to Colo., to earn an MBA at Colorado State University. Now repatriated to Mexico, they are a graphic designer and illustrator for Culturs magazine.

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PRAISE FOR THE

SUMMER ISSUE CELEBR

ATING CROSS-C ULTURA L

IDENTITY @CULTU RSMAG WW W.CU

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TIME F

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perilous times!"

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"It's here! Culturs Global Magazine made it all the way to our remote forest location, and it is beautiful, informative, and lives up to it's cover... TIME FOR CHANGE. I love being part of the Culturs family."

WAYS

AK E YOU CA N M ENCE

"You are simply amazing" — @weheartveuve

A DI FF ER

"I love it!! Once again a quality product with insightful articles. Loved your Dad's story and the Yin Yang exploration."

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— T. Miyamoto

"Much to digest in the summer 2020 edition. Great content and impressive photography."

— @edithandersen3

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"Just sat and enjoyed my issue of CULTURS, Defining Blackness Around the Globe issue and have never been so moved by any magazine prior to this. It is an AESTHETICALLY PLEASING issue from start to finish of hope, awareness and respectful understanding of everything human. Even the texture of the cover and pages felt comforting as you heal through the issue. Amazing work, amazing people and an amazing call to order."

— D. Hardin

"This summer edition of cultursmag is full of amazing human stories, eye opening insights from black people around the globe."

— @Letmeshowyoudifferent

Fall 2020

www.CultursMag.com Volume III, Issue X

GURU PUBLISHER & FOUNDER

"This happened today... the symbolism of change is remarkable. I opened my mail and came across a copy of a magazine that had me in tears.

This magazine is the most beatiful publication I have ever experienced.

Every page was a reflection of artistry and ancestry."

Doni Aldine

EDITORIAL WEB EDITOR Michelle Ancell SENIOR EDITOR Tammy Matthews MUSIC EDITOR Tommy McMillion

— L. Massop Pace

Donna Musil Swaranli Sikdar Das

CONTRIBUTORS Mudabbir Ahmad Tak Doni Aldine Gertrudis Basto Estrella Peter Lo Antoinette Lee Toscano

COLUMNISTS Andrea Bazoin Todd Cornell Myra Dumapais

CREATIVE "Ive been reading more about your journey and what you've cultivated. I am super impressed and interested in what you're doing and teaching. Thanks for all of what you offer to the world!

ART DIRECTION Doni Aldine COPY EDITOR Andrea Bazoin GRAPHIC DESIGN Diana Vega ILLUSTRATION Diana Vega

I love art & education... Culturs Mag definitely gives me that, from what I see so far!"

— @Mixed Theory

"Great magazine doing great things and spreading a great message, keep going!"

— P. Lo

Tommy McMillion Claire Miranda Monstercate Donna Musil Calli Webb

PHOTOGRAPHERS Mudabbir Ahmad Tak Gerald Ambrosine CookieMasteri Diuurno John Johnston Creative Beata Lubas

WEB DESIGN McMillion Multimedia

SUPPORTERS ADVISORY BOARD Brooke Martellaro Gregory Moore Donna Musil Antionette Williams Chumba Limo

Warner Bros.

Cassy Brewer Joy Fehily Mackie Swoger 20Twenty.com

SPECIAL THANKS: Colorado State University Journalism and Media Communication

Connect with Culturs on social: @CultursMag @CultursGuruTCK

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— S. Kendall

SUBSCRIPTIONS: www.subscribe.Cultursmag.com. ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Contact advertise@culturs.org. MEDIA INQUIRIES: Contact press@culturs.org. CULTURSTM magazine, Volume 2, Issue 3. Copyright Culturs Global Multicultural Philanthropic Lifestyle Network. All rights reserved. Published quarterly; Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall,

by Simply Alive, LLC, 1800 Wazee Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO, 80525. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Culturs magazine, 1800 Wazee Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO, 80525. Reproduction in whole or part without express written consent is strictly prohibited. Simply Alive LLC does not assume responsibility for the advertisements, nor any representation made therein, nor the quality or deliverability of the products themselves. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts, photographs, and other material submitted. Culturs makes every effort to provide accurate information in advertising and editorial content, however, does not make any claim as to the accuracy of information provided by advertisers or editorial contributors and accepts no responsibility or liability for inaccurate information.

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Culturally Fluid Definitions n the 21st century, assessing someone’s background from outward appearance isn’t enough as hidden, rather than visual, diversity means people increasingly bring more to the table than meets the eye.

Whether through nationality, travel, race or ethnicity, many straddle culture in myriad ways.

From Cultural Fluidity, to Third Culture Kid, Expat, Third Culture Adult, Cross-Cultural Kid and more, the language to describe our in-between community is of

Cross-Cultural Kid (CCK) A term coined by author Ruth Van Reken in 2002, is a person who is living, has lived, or meaningfully interacted with two or more cultural environments for a significant period of time during the first 18 years of life. This includes minoritized individuals living within majority culture.

Adult Cross-Cultural Kid (ACCK)

utmost importance. Knowing the vocabulary creates understanding and deepens our sense of belonging and connections to others with similar experiences. Here’s a quick overview so you can follow along any of our articles with ease:

Third Culture Kids (TCKs) Coined by Sociologist Ruth Useem in the 1950s as a person who has spent a significant part of his or her developmental years outside the parents’ culture. The first culture is considered an individual’s passport culture, while the second culture consists of the culture(s) in which the individual has lived. The third culture is a result of the person’s life experience; this is the culture to which they most belong. The third culture often is where individuals feel community with others of similar experience.

An adult who grew up as a Cross-Cultural Kid.

Domestic TCK Cultural Fluidity/Cultural Mobility A term coined by Culturs founder Donnyale Ambrosine to characterize hidden diversity created by people who don’t or didn’t grow up in a homo­ genous cultural environment. Culturally Fluid individuals may straddle nationalities, ethnicities, race or culture. The fluidity created allows understanding between or among their foundational areas of meaningful experience. It also may hinder sense of belonging to any one area.

Missionary Kids Children of missionaries who travel to missions domestically or abroad.

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Children who moved to various regions within the same country while growing up, often having to re-learn ways of being, especially as regional differences in dress, speech and action are heightened in formative years when it is important to be accepted.

Third Culture Adult (TCA) Coined in 2002 by Psychotherapist Paulette Bethel to signify individuals who travel extensively and are immersed in, or live in global locations after the age of 18 (after identity has been solidified).

Adult Third Culture Kid (ATCK) An adult who grew up as a TCK.

Refugees Internationally nomadic group not characterized by a parent’s occupation. Displaced from their homeland forcibly or by choice, often having fled for varied reasons — violence, politics, religion, environment, etc. Refugees typically do not return to their origin country.

Immigrants People who, for varied reasons, immigrate to a country different than their homeland to stay permanently. Many return to their home countries to visit, though some do not.

Expatriate (Expat) As defined by Merriam Webster — to leave one’s native country to live elsewhere; which also sometimes means to renounce allegiance to one’s native country.

Military B.R.A.T. Children of military who move with parents to different places within or outside of their home country. They often experience other cultures within the confines of a military installation or compound that possesses traits of the home country.

Non-Military Foreign Service Children traveling with their parents to various countries in non-military government roles, diplomatic corps, civil service, foreign service, etc.

Diplomat Kids Children whose parents are members of the home country’s political framework while living on foreign soil.

Traveler Those who travel expecting differences among intra-international or international culture, however, not immersed in these cultures for extended periods of time, or long enough to integrate local cultural norms as their own.

International Business Kids Children whose parents work with multi-national corporations takes them to far-away lands, often in professional fields surrounding oil, construction and pharmaceuticals.

Borderlanders Described by author Ruth Van Reken in the book “Third Culture Kids,” a borderlander is a citizen of one country that lives close to another. Often the norms, customs and traits of each country’s culture seeps into the other, creating a cultural experience separate from either original culture, while allowing inhabitants keen knowledge and insight into their own culture as well as the other.

Multiracial People whose family consists of two or more races to which the individual identifies. With race often come cultural norms, slang language and attitudes that can greatly differ. Many multiracial children, though not all, have the unique opportunity to learn norms of all the cultures they comprise.

Multiethnic; Multicultural People whose family consists of two or more cultures to which the individual identifies. Even when belonging to the same race, differences in culture may exist between ethnicities, tribes and other cultural contexts.

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PUBLISHER’S LETTER

2020 has been a doozy for us all! Yet amid the strife and toil, upheavals and new normals — still we find ways to uplift each other.

W

e hope this is what this issue does for you.

Our Summer 2020 “Time for Change Issue,” as of this writing, is tens of copies away from selling out. And we are honored that our audience has heeded the call to make a difference and foster change in any way they can. We are a multicultural magazine that amplifies all global voices with special focus on the marginalized and underserved. That work is not even close to done.

We hope this issue and the stories within open your eyes to the people of the world and to creating change wherever you have the opportunity.

Even though I interviewed Director Patty Jenkins just after COVID-19 overtook the world and before the social upheaval that resulted in protests around the globe, her words ring true to all that has happened and continues to happen. Like many Third Culture Kids, her foresight is 12

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astounding. As she mentions, growing up in different cultures at a young age makes a difference in our development. It’s a difference we often see later in life.

Our designer Diana Vega felt it. Even though she grew up monocultural, she’s a Third Culture Adult who has lived and studied in different countries.

Repatriating after graduate school in the United States honed her already heightened empathy as she experienced first-hand what happens when you change, but your former surroundings do not.

We loved experiencing her homeland, her culture, her family — and you’ll see throughout the book — the foods she grew up with. Her native Yucatan is a place, people and cuisine imbibed with love, and it was a treasure to behold.

We also pay homage to a Military B.R.A.T.’s memory of her father and his service. She made a brave journey to witness some of what he dealt with, and the ramifications of service during wartime. Some wounds are

The Vega Family with Editor-in-Chief Doni at their home in Merida.

passed through generations, and though we may not have experienced the trauma, often we still receive their ill effects. We hope this piece opens people’s eyes and their hearts to begin a healing process.

We hope you find something that touches your heart in this issue — there are so many things that touched mine. We encourage you to find that art, that love, that pilgrimage that your soul seeks — the one that will help you reach new heights and uplifts others to do the same.

All the best,

Doni (Dah-knee) Publisher and Founder ulturs — the Global C Multicultural Magazine Doni and Patty Jenkins at the Sundance Film Festival 2019.

Culturs.org Cultursmag.com

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

By Todd Cornell

Embrace Change And Be Happy

F

inding my place in China was sometimes challenging. The excitement of learning a new language — a portal of curiosity and fascination, quickly became a rabbit hole. The cultural adventures of re-learning life activities took on a new twist that led to balancing change.

My United States-grown simplicity and ignorance revealed a culture gap that laid bare opposing ideologies, ideology clashes that pushed me to adapt to China or agonize.

Rascal in Utah

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CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

Rascal with Sean Jiang Da-Yu.

These challenges seemed more emphasized in Harbin. This city my job had taken me to was a town on the edges of Siberia. I toyed with getting a dog, sensing it may offer some relief. The long-term responsibilities of what raising a dog meant in China and the social hurdles kept me rejecting the idea. If someone called Public Security because of the dog, I might be required to forfeit the dog. That would be painful.

But the conversation with my closest Chinese friend in Harbin, Sean Jiang Da-Yu, kept surfacing, and he agreed to be my dog’s uncle and caretaker if it came to that.

Over a couple of weeks, we found the perfect pup at the local outdoor “Pet Market.” It was a Siberian dog that I later learned was a West Siberian Laika. I named him “Rascal” in English, and Sean decided on 淘气宝, “Naughty Treasure,” in Chinese.

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Rascal on Great Wall

RASCAL MY 2CD - TWO-CULTURE DOG Rascal’s first year and a half unfolded in China. Experiencing the cultural differences around raising a dog in China fascinated me.

At six months, I had him neutered. Most of my Chinese friends could not understand why

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

I didn’t let him have a family. At least one litter before the operation.

Once, descending my apartment elevator, a Chinese gentleman got on holding a plastic bag. Rascal seated in the corner stretched his nose over to sniff the bag. The man jerked the bag away. I told him that Rascal

was smelling the bag. He retorted, “I don’t want him smelling my plastic bag!” This sort of interaction was not unusual. But, many Chinese were fascinated with Rascal, exclaiming that he was the luckiest dog in China.

Driving from Harbin to Beijing to catch our flight to San Francisco, we stopped at the www.CultursMag.com

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CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

THE CONFLICT OF GRIEF - EAST OR WEST

Great Wall. And it was the most significant experience, taking my 2CD to the most famous of all places in his birth country.

Rascal loved people. In China, he wanted to meet everyone he saw. But the Chinese are not as friendly to strange dogs as we are in the States. After a long trip from Harbin to San Diego, including unusually extreme turbulence, Rascal became wary of strangers.

As a pup in China, Rascal engaged people speaking Mandarin. I also talked to him in English. It was our “lingua franca.” But when we arrived in the U.S., he seemed perplexed that everyone was speaking “our” language. Eventually, he adjusted to the change.

Walking by a fire hydrant in San Diego, I was surprised that he didn’t stop to sniff. Eventually, Rascal realized those fire hydrants were a great source of local news.

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After 13 years, Rascal exhibited signs of physical decline. I loathed the confusion and suffering in his eyes when he struggled to stand up. I faced the hardest decision. Weeks later, he laid down for the last time on my lap on the floor.

“I’m sorry.” The first thing we hear when a loved one has passed. Now, it seems shallow and trite. My confused thoughts — you didn’t do anything wrong.

Why should you apologize?

No one did anything wrong.

Yet some say, “I’m sorry for your loss.” What loss? I gained the love of a four-legged friend who touched my heart in ways no human ever has. I would not be the same person without that interaction. His love lives on within me. Synapses will weaken and memories fade — but the life-connection will never cease.

In China, when someone passes, they don’t apologize, they embrace a worldview of change as the core of life experience.

Change, based on the 易经 Yi Jing (I Ching), is a universal holistic idea of balance in Chinese thought.

CULTURAL CONNECTIONS

NOTHING EXISTS OUTSIDE OF THE DAO Change is at the core of the Dao. There are multiple names to express the universal concept, but for the Chinese, Dao includes ultimate universal balance.

The Dao, embodies the balance of Yin and *Yang, two opposite energies within nature, harmoniously and lovingly massaging the ebb and flow.

The ebb and flow of opposites similar to that of life & death, love & hate.

I grope for balance after the loss of a soul with which my soul interwove so closely. Rascal has moved from the Yang expression of life to the Yin expression of death.

Change resides at the core of tradition in China, Rascal’s birthplace. In China, during the

time of mourning, they console each other with the phrase, 节哀 顺变 “Don’t be sad, and embrace the change.”

Change, in our society, is often perceived as something to avoid. It echoes rabbits fleeing the threat of a fox. But without change, flowers cannot bloom, trees cannot grow and we cannot truly experience life.

By embracing change, we free ourselves from meaningless ideas that numb our senses with a buzz of indifference. Change reveals itself as a wise guide directing the way to the realization of opportunities unseen.

IN MEMORY OF RASCAL MARCH 15, 2006 - NOVEMBER 1, 2019 * Pronounced: “yahng”

Rascal Looking Back

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A military B.R.A.T. makes peace

in Vietnam Story and photos by Donna Musil

A soldier’s daughter reminds us that children are often the forgotten casualties of war and the line between one’s friends and enemies is not always so clear.

Donna, Dena, and Tisa Musil (L to R) share a picnic in Germany, circa 1968.

WARNING.

This article contains images and references to war and violence which some may find distressing and/or triggering.

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When I was sixteen, my father died from cancer.

Today, it would be presumed to be related to Agent Orange, the deadly defoliant the U.S. dropped on Vietnam during the war, exposing millions of friends and foe alike. When he died, my father and I weren’t on the greatest terms. He was an authoritative military man and I was an obstinate teenager. Toss onto that simmering stack of charcoal raging adolescent hormones, eleven moves on three continents in fifteen years, and the fear of losing a parent — well, you can imagine the sizable flames on that particular fire.

It wasn’t always that way.

Lieutenant Colonel Louis “Bud” Musil was a hands-on kind of dad.

He was up at five a.m. cooking chicken gizzards (for the extra protein) before my swim meets in San Francisco. He made sure our cocker spaniel, Penny, flew across the Atlantic Ocean with us, no matter the cost. And he and my mother dragged our tiny, whining bodies to every temple, museum and monument across Europe and Southeast Asia, including the World War II concentration camp memorial in Dachau, Germany when I was ten.

Because Bud Musil was no “ugly American.” He wanted to make sure we saw the good, the bad and the ugly in the world; the causes and consequences of war, not just the platitudes. He joined every cross-cultural friendship group he could find.

To this day, my heart skips a beat every time I pass an airport, and I detest nationalism. Cultural preservation is one thing – but there’s a very thin line between patriotism and xenophobia.

When I was seven, my father went to Vietnam for a year. He was a military lawyer assigned to a combat unit with the 173rd Airborne Brigade “Sky Soldiers,” during some of the bloodiest battles of the war. He slept on a cot in a tent that also served as their legal office and courtroom.

His duties ranged from investigating U.S. war crimes to managing the debts of soldiers struggling to stay alive in the North Vietnamese Army (NVA)covered hills of the Central Highlands. In ten months, he tried 103 courts-martial and

reviewed 942 Article Fifteens (if a military member gets into trouble for a minor offense and it does not require a judicial hearing, Article 15 of the UCMJ allows for the commanding officer to decide the innocence or guilt and administer the punishment to the offender, if necessary), then focused on rehabilitating the convicted, saving many a military career.

Apparently, he did a decent job. In a recommendation for a Bronze Star, an eyewitness claimed Bud Musil’s approach “was marked by a maturity, wisdom, fairness, and understanding of human nature in a degree rarely found in individuals of his age and experience.” The eyewitness said he had an “intense interest in judiciously safeguarding both [the] rights of the individual and the interests of the United States Government” and was truly a “soldier’s advocate.”

Maj. Bud Musil on board a helicopter in Vietnam, circa 1967-1968.

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Maj. Bud Musil’s desk in Vietnam, circa 1967-1968.

VIEWING WAR FROM THE OTHER SIDE In January 2019, my husband and I took a trip to north and central Vietnam. I hesitate to call it a vacation. We did a few touristy things: took an intimate cruise on a junket ship in Halong Bay; saw a traditional water puppet show in Yen Doc village; and shopped ‘til we dropped amongst the balustrades and bougainvillea of Hoi An. But we also wanted to explore the more tragic and bittersweet aspects of what the Vietnamese call the “American War.” We weren’t naïve about military conflict. My mother-inlaw was a pretty blonde, blue-eyed teenager when the Russians and Mongols invaded Berlin at the 20

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end of World War II, and raped thousands of pretty blonde, blue-eyed teenagers. My father’s best friend died in Vietnam, and after the war, I watched him drink himself to sleep every night with a good book and a better gin and tonic. I had also spent twenty years documenting the emotional and psychological influences of trauma and war on military children and families, so my husband and I knew the consequences of war, one step removed.

What we didn’t know could fill an encyclopedia.

We started at the Ho Chi Minh memorial in Hanoi. I didn’t know much about Ho Chi Minh at the time, the Vietnamese revolutionary and first President

of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. When we toured his austere home and read about his travels to France and admiration for America’s founding fathers, I couldn’t help but note the irony of America backing the South Vietnamese capitalist republic instead of the North Vietnamese communist republic who fought for and won their country’s independence from the French and Japanese, as the U.S. had done from the British.

As we entered the mausoleum in a hushed, straight line, I was surprised to see the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh lying there, as if he could wake up any moment and invite us for tea.

Maintaining this perception takes a lot of work, apparently. For the last six years of the war, his body was hidden in a cave and still must be transported to Russia every year for two to three months of maintenance. Ho Chi Minh specifically asked to be cremated in his will. He lived a modest life and wanted his ashes buried in three simple urns in the

Water puppet show, Yen Duc, Vietnam.

hills of northern, central, and southern Vietnam. Instead, his mummified body lies inside a glass casket, where thousands of visitors and devotees come to pay their respects.

THE HANOI HILTON Our next stop was Hoa Lo Prison, often referred to as the “Hanoi Hilton,” where U.S. Senator John McCain was held captive for five years after crashing into downtown Hanoi’s Truc Bach Lake during a bombing run. Built by the French, the

prison also housed scores of Vietnamese who fought for and eventually won their independence at Dien Bien Phu. As our young guide led us through the dark, dank cells, I recalled similar heartbreaking tales of brutality and brotherhood at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Ga., U.S.A., the memorial at Dachau, and in countless other museums around the world.

I suppose that’s what John McCain was doing when he tried to normalize relations between

Lanterns in Hoi An, Vietnam.

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“There is only one way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity to man, and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man.”

—South African anti-apartheid activist Alan Paton, author of “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

Vietnamese school children laugh and exchange greetings with the Americans, as we all wait in line to see the Ho Chi Minh memorial.

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the United States and Vietnam in more than two dozen visits following his release. When McCain died in 2018, hundreds of Vietnamese well-wishers left flowers and incense at the monument in Hanoi that marks his capture. I don’t think anyone “forgave” each other, or forgot the cruelty and carnage inherent in every conflict, but I guess they decided to make the best of a bad situation and focus on the future they faced, if not the one for which they had fought.

DAK TO: THE BLOODY BATTLE We continued our journey in Pleiku, the capital of the Gia Lai Province, in the heart of Vietnam.

Our guide, Cham, was a Montagnard, one of the indigenous “people of the mountain” of the Central Highlands. His face was weathered, but his smile was kind and his eyes astute. For twelve hours he shared what he could through dusty backroads, shrouded waterfalls and rows of rubber trees tourists rarely see. It was magical.

It was also emotionally grueling. Our primary destination was an abandoned airstrip in Dak To (or Dac To), near the Cambodia/Laos border. Filmmaker Ken Burns dedicated an entire episode to the battles of Dak To in his television series “The Vietnam War.” My father had arrived in Oct. 1967, a month after the NVA leadership decided to lure U.S. forces into the rolling hills and “crush” them, according to “Military Operations in the Central Highlands,” a memoir I

Donna Musil and her guide Siu Cham at the Dak To airstrip where her father was based in Vietnam, Nov. 1967.

picked up at Hoa Lo Prison. It was written by the Chief Commander of the operation, Hoang Minh Thao, who helped build the Vietnam People’s Army. The book was hard to read. I had to keep reminding myself that we had been the “enemy” and the dead were my father’s friends and brothers-in-arms.

The U.S. military had turned Dac To and Tan Canh into a large military base, with an airfield from which to launch operations into the surrounding hills.

Despite the combined efforts of the 4th Infantry, 1st Calvary, South Vietnamese ARVN, and 173rd Airborne Brigade, which Thao called “one of the crack units of the U. S. Expeditionary Corps,” the Viet Cong were able

to parlay lessons from previous battles with the U.S. at Ia Drang and the like into seventeen days and nights of continuous battle, “crippling” the U.S. forces, particularly the 173rd, by killing 344 soldiers, wounding 1441 more and shooting down 38 planes and helicopters. The battle also included relentless attacks on the Dak To airfield and Tan Canh military base in a “most horrible firestorm” that destroyed two C130 planes, seventeen thousand gallons of fuel, and thirteen hundred tons of ammunition. An officer with the 173rd called it a “bloodbath.”

I don’t know who that officer was, but as I stood on the same airfield, I tried to imagine the fear my father must have felt as the www.CultursMag.com

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Halong Bay. The Vietnam landscape is as beautiful and resilient as its people.

bombs exploded around him. I recalled in one of his legal files a casual remark he made about dragging bodies off a hill and photographs of mutilated Viet Cong soldiers. I watched an old woman pick through the rubble at the end of the runway that morning; for what, I couldn’t tell.

Our guide told us the runway is used to dry cassava now, a starchy tree root that locals eat. We considered, but couldn’t venture into the hills where the hand-tohand battles were fought, because bombs and booby-traps were still hidden amongst the foliage.

As we drove away, our guide shared his own war stories. He said he was a young man at the height of the conflict, studying at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He had received a full scholarship from a Christian organization he met by chance 24

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while studying in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. Upon his return, after the NVA won the war, he was sent to a “re-education camp” (nee prison) for two years, presumably for attending the Western institution. For three of those months, he sat alone in complete darkness. He was lucky; his cellmate and many others were beaten and executed.

MY LAI MASSACRE Two days later, our other guide, Pham Huu Van, told us he also spent time in a re-education camp after working as a translator during the war. He was still translating when he took us to the Son My Memorial, honoring the victims of one of the worst civilian casualties of the war. On March 16, 1968, American soldiers massacred more than 500 unarmed elderly men, women, and children in a small

village called My Lai and its surrounding areas.

I had wanted to visit the memorial for years. My father was in Vietnam during the same time period, and the soldier who led the slaughter, Lt. William Calley, once ran a popular jewelry store in the town where my mother lives. I had watched Calley eat a chili dog one day at a local delicatessen, three tables over from me. I had wanted to say something, but was too scared, so I sat there frozen, pretending he was just another customer.

Calley was a diminutive man at 5’4,” who reportedly led a non-descript life after the massacre. But on that particular day in Vietnam, he and his “brothers-in-arms” shot, stabbed, beat, blew up and mutilated 182 women (including 17 pregnant women), 173 children (including

56 babies under five-months-old), 60 villagers over sixty-years-old and 89 middle-aged villagers, wiping out generations of families for decades to come.

Pham Thanh Cong was eleven years old when the U.S. invaded My Lai at daybreak. Like most families, he writes in his memoir, “The Witness from Pinkville,” he was eating breakfast with his mother and three sisters, one barely two years old. Other boys were already working in the fields with their grandfathers.

Suddenly, a shower of missiles and bullets began raining down on their heads, as nine helicopters hovered, firing rockets and machine guns. The farmers and field boys were the first to die. Then houses, food, and livestock were burned to the ground. Mothers wailed while their daughters were raped and sodomized.

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Pham Thanh Cong, an orphan at 12, after his mother and siblings were killed at My Lai and his father died from a separate attack. Author of the memoir, The Witness From Pinkville.

The Witness From Pinkville, a memoir about the 1968 My Lai massacre by survivor Pham Thanh Cong.

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The story of My Lai broke exclusively in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on November 20, 1969, by reporter Joseph Eszterhas and Ronald Haeberle.

Pham Thanh Cong and his family hid in an underground dugout until three soldiers arrived and forced them out. They set their house on fire and killed their buffaloes. Then the soldiers huddled together, mulled something over, and forced the family back into the dugout. Just as his mother realized what was happening, one of the soldiers tossed in a grenade, killing everyone but the boy.

Afterward, Lieutenant Calley and his troops marched 170 residents of the tiny hamlet to an irrigation ditch and methodically mowed down “anything that moved.” When a baby tried to crawl out from under its dead mother, Calley tossed the child back on the heap and shot it dead.

Not every U.S. soldier followed Calley’s orders. One shot himself in the leg to avoid participating.

Helicopter pilot and military

B.R.A.T. Hugh Thompson, along with his crew chief Glenn Androetta and gunner Lawrence Colburn, rescued a dozen civilians that day, after warning Calley he was committing a war crime.

Calley told Thompson to mind his own business, stating, “this is my show. I’m in charge here.”

Thompson and his crew took off, angrily, then refueled and returned, pulling one girl out of a ditch and landing their plane between ten villagers running from other soldiers. Thompson told Colburn and Andreotta to shoot the U.S. soldiers if they tried to stop the rescue.

For a year, the mass slaughter was covered up by the United States military, until it was finally exposed through the dedication, conscience and courage of helicopter gunner Ron Ridenhour, combat photographer Ronald Haeberle, journalist Seymour

Hersh, and Thompson’s crew. I’ve often wondered if my father knew about the massacre, and if so, what he thought or did (if anything). I know he prosecuted American soldiers for war crimes, but as far as I know, he wasn’t attached to Calley’s platoon.

THE COST OF WAR The story fueled the U.S. anti-war movement. Others made excuses for the inexcusable. It was the “cost of war,” some shrugged.

They were “avenging” their fallen friends.

None of this was true. Calley had barely been “in-country” and had experienced little direct combat.

Pham Thanh Cong, meanwhile, was struggling to survive without his mother and siblings. His father helped as much as he could while serving as the Security Commissioner and Chief of a separate village.

In 1969, Calley was charged with multiple counts of premeditated murder, along with others. Only Calley was convicted, but he served just three years of house arrest in Columbus, Ga., before Judge Robert Elliott released him.

President Richard Nixon pardoned him in 1974. ThenGovernor Jimmy Carter told his fellow Georgians to “honor the flag” as Calley had done and leave their headlights on to show their support.

A few months after Calley was charged, twelve-year-old Pham Thanh Cong’s father was killed in a U.S. raid on the Son Quang commune. Some of his last words were to please help his son, “He

has no more family members to rely on.”

After he was released, Calley spent the bulk of his life selling jewelry in Columbus, then moved to a gated luxury apartment complex in Fla., and finally, Atlanta. He apologized in 2009 — but not really — he still claimed he was just “following orders.” Apparently, Calley missed the lesson about the Nuremberg Trials after World War II.

The day my husband and I visited the My Lai/Son My Memorial, the museum was empty, save a class of Korean university students speaking with two of the massacre’s survivors — Pham Thanh Cong and Mrs. Pham Thi Thuan (not related) – about similar atrocities inflicted upon the Vietnamese by the Koreans. We were allowed to observe, then Cong agreed to speak with me, personally.

Memorial to the victims of the My Lai massacre. My Lai/Son My Museum, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam.

January, 2019.

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He was retired now, but he had developed and managed the memorial for many years. Despite the melancholy nature of our conversation, Cong immediately put us at ease. I asked whether he thought war brings out the worst in people or simply gives bad actors an opportunity to do terrible things. Like the students, I wondered how he and his fellow survivors coped, emotionally, with such trauma and loss.

The hurt they bear is unhealable, he assured me. He still has nightmares, fifty years later. It is a pain that all war victims share, he said. Yet, he is acutely aware that moving forward is the only way for him,

“Life is bittersweet, and the sweetest part of my life is now.”

—Cong says in his book

My Lai survivor Mrs. Pham Thi Thuan walks home after discussing the horrors of My Lai with university students. Her mother, daughter, and son were murdered by American soldiers.

Quang Ngai, Vietnam, Jan. 2019.

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personally, and his country to forge a better future. They don’t teach Vietnamese children about My Lai in school, he told us, but 40,000 people visit the memorial each year from 80 countries. His own family is growing, as well. He and his wife have three children, who are now bearing children of their own.

SAYING GOODBYE Two months after my father’s cancer was discovered on my sixteenth birthday in 1976, I was riding around Fort Knox on my bicycle, heading nowhere in particular. I decided to stop at the Ireland Army Hospital, an offwhite, multi-story behemoth that resembled a Soviet housing block.

He was in a coma at this point and my mother and grandmother took turns manning his bedside, holding his emaciated hand.

I didn’t like going to the hospital. I was still angry at my father — for being so controlling, for moving me away from my San Francisco swim team, for dying.

But I leaned my bicycle against the building behind a bush and hoped it would be there when I returned.

I was surprised when I opened the door to his room and neither

my mother nor my grandmother were there. It was just me and my father, alone, while the air conditioner hummed softly in the background.

He looked like one of those concentration camp victims we had seen in Dachau. He couldn’t have weighed more than 85 pounds. I leaned against the bedrail for a moment in silence, then told him I was sorry — for being such a jerk and arguing every night at the dinner table.

He breathed out of his mouth in tandem with the air conditioner. I told him I was sorry for sneaking off to parties in the middle of the night and for screaming “I wish you were dead!” when he punished me afterward, as any good parent would do.

He didn’t answer, of course.

He was in a coma. But when I started to cry and asked him to forgive me, I swear he nodded, just a little. I don’t know if he really did or if I just imagined it.

They say a person’s hearing is the last thing to go, but who really knows? I hope it’s true.

My father died that night, at 42 years old. Like Pham Thanh Cong, I had lost the one man in the world who truly loved and

Major Louis F. “Bud” Musil, Bad Kreuznach, Germany, 1969.

He didn’t answer, of course. He was in a coma. But when I started to

Writer/Filmmaker Donna Musil. By Photographer Ray Ng.

understood me. The Vietnam War had taken both of our fathers, and his mother and sisters. We would never be the same and neither would our countries, but at least I got to say goodbye, which is more than I can say for many.

“The wheel of history goes on and on,” Pham Thanh Cong says at the end of his book.

If only someday it would roll in the direction of peace.

cry and asked him to forgive me, I swear he nodded, just a little.

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WORLDS OF WONDER

P

atty Jenkins is best known for directing acclaimed movies like “Monster,” with Actor Charlize Theron (a role for which she won an Oscar), and “Wonder Woman,” with Actor Gal Gadot — both of whom are famously cross-cultural — but few people realize Jenkins is as well. As a second generation military B.R.A.T., Jenkins traveled abroad at age six months, beginning her tenure as a full-fledged Third Culture Kid (TCK). Her experiences and her life path would be

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instrumental in creating some of the most lauded film productions of all time.

During our conversation, Jenkins jokes that no one would be speaking to her if she hadn’t done the work she has to date. In our global, cross-cultural world, however, the fame and glitz might be cool, knowing that someone with a similar background “made it,” might be awesome, but the milestone for us in talking to her is how she grew up, and that she fully understands our culturally in-between world.

TCKs know all-too-well that in-between space that few understand. It’s amazing to see how the traits, characteristics and experiences among TCKs like Military B.R.A.T.s can shape and mold a life and a career.

DESTINY CHARTED

Courtesy of Turner,

Jenkins was born to a fighter pilot father and feminist mother on George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif., U.S.A. Before she could walk, she was flying, as

her mom took Jenkins and her sister to live in Vietnam, then Cambodia and Thailand so they could be close to where their father was deployed during the Vietnam war. “She’s a feminist rebel who decides that she’s taking us to go along even though we’re not supposed to go,” Jenkins says of her mother.

Having grown up in a military family herself, there was no way the young mom could fathom being left behind. The family lived on their own in Thailand while Jenkins’ father was stationed in Cambodia. And so, it began.

Jenkins is very aware of how such an upbringing can shape one’s mindset. She posits that being in a completely different culture than that of the U.S., and being there during wartime, changes the effect on the experience as much as the experience shapes the individual.

She notes, “Your first observations of life are in another place, but there’s also extreme duress all around you. Only in retrospect do I realize and think I was

THE THIRD CULTURE KID JOURNEY TO WW1984 In her own words, here is how we think Patty Jenkins’ background brings the universal to the masses in ways to which we all can relate: *text edited for brevity and clarity.

1. A 360-degree POINT-OFVIEW: WW1984 is an ensemble piece much more than the first movie, where there are four main characters and they all start in pretty strong ways except for Diana, who is complex. It’s a journey where, hopefully, I deconstruct all of them so you see where they’re ending up and why they’re ending up where they are — which is an interesting thing to do with villains. Certainly, I’m not the first person to do it but it’s not a common thing to do and oftentimes you want your villain, you want to understand their journey. By the end you’re experiencing all of the points of view of the story. Hopefully.

2. TRANSCENDS BORDERS: I was so proud to be a part of the gender conversation in the last movie, but Wonder Woman is about saving the world, and we have big problems. Interestingly she is talking about what we’re going through right now in this movie which is: We can be better than this.

3. REQUIRES EMPATHY: I feel like that’s what I was trying to do with “Wonder Woman I,” which was: You think that there’s a bad guy and you’re gonna kill the bad guy, ~continued on pg. 35 www.CultursMag.com

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when you sing your soul... and the bell it rings universally, to everybody.

you’re doing. You’re in a plane dropping bombs on children.”

One can only imagine the toll such a turn of events could levy upon the soul.

“So, I think also I was absorbing probably all of the interesting emotional confusion of what was going on over there from him, and from my mom, and from being in another world.”

SINS OF THE FATHER Jenkins relays that she feels “sins of the father is a real thing,” outlining her thoughts that children pick up the experiences, activity and emotion around them. We discuss intergenerational trauma, and studies with rats showing a link to traumatic experiences and how they can pass to offspring through multiple generations.

There is a growing body of research supporting the effect of trauma through generations — it’s been shown, but science is trying to figure out exactly how it happens.

According to a 2019 article by Martha Henriques on BBC.com’s BBC Future, much of this study is beginning to concentrate on Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Art to me is

Patty Jenkins with “Wonder Woman 1984” Actor Chris Pine on the set of “I Am The Night.”

Courtesy of Turner,

absorbing a lot of my father’s struggles because I think you are [absorbing so much] and you’re probably not realizing it.”

Relating it back to career, Jenkins reflects on how her experiences help her see the characters in her films.

“When I made ‘Monster,’ I was always so curious why I had this victor identification even though she was not a victor, she was a victim very much, Aileen Wuornos. But she killed all these people. There was something about her story that always spoke to me in the fact that she didn’t mean to. You weren’t seeing that she never set out to be this person, she didn’t set out to be the bad guy.”

Like many TCKs, Jenkins’ unique point-of-view and ability to ascertain and decipher nuance allow viewers to see her characters with a multi-dimensionality and understanding to which the masses can relate.

Reading her father’s letters as an adult, Jenkins came to realize the struggles he faced with his assignment during the Vietnam war. He was a fighter pilot — “a great one” — says Jenkins, who chose his career path because of World War II. He wanted to be the good guy, she offers, to be one of the heroes who stopped the Nazis. “And now he’s strafing villagers in Vietnam,” she says.

“I think the fighter pilots had a visual clear understanding of what they were doing, because they weren’t in the woods being shot at,” Jenkins says. “They’re in a plane being shot at, but they know they’re killing innocent villagers — like you know what

TCK JOURNEY TO WW1984 ~ continued from pg. 33

but there’s no bad guy.

There’s no bad guy, that was the point — it’s us.

It’s us and we’re all both and it’s complex and we have to get to terms with that.

Evil is laziness and lack of bravery and courage in the face of something not of benefit yourself.

Cross-cultural actor Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman 1984.

epigenetics, where gene expression is modified without actually changing DNA code.

“Tiny chemical tags are added to or removed from our DNA in response to changes in the environment in which we are living. These tags turn genes on or off, offering a way of adapting to changing conditions without inflicting a more permanent shift in our genomes,” Henriques writes.

The studies often point to male trauma victims passing the resulting expressions on to their sons and not their daughters.

But Jenkins is on to something with her assessment, continuing with, “They say that your imprinting up until the age of three is pretty influential in how you see the world.” Sociologist Morris Massey, Ph.D. speaks

widely on values development and cites age zero to seven as the “Imprint Period,” the time of life essential to a human’s basic programming. According to Massey, it’s where children unconsciously pick up parental behavior. So Jenkins has it right on the money.

Sadly, her father perished in a flight training exercise when she was seven. But not before they’d lived in Kansas, U.S.A., and Thailand again, and Germany and Spain. During the cold war, her father had an acting mandate and a one-way ticket to Russia with nuclear weapons aboard his aircraft. “Again, who knows what you’re absorbing, but these are the high stakes [with which her father worked].”

4. SHOWS THE DIMENSIONALITY OF LIFE: You can always think that you’re right and you can also think that you’re coming from the same point of view, but there are additional layers of accountability — truth being one of them — and all sides claim the truth is on their side: but there is one truth, there’s not many truths.

We’re all investigating what that is, and we all put our various slants on what that is, but I think that a lot of people don’t have the bravery to really face the real truth and challenge their own point of view when it’s inconvenient or traumatic for themselves. To me that is what evil is: Laziness and lack of bravery and courage in the face of something not of benefit yourself. ~continued on pg. 37 www.CultursMag.com

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With all of this mobility, Jenkins believes her mother wanted her daughters’ lives to seem stable, commenting “But, you’re from Kansas,” as they did live in the state for a decent amount of time off and on until Jenkins’ sophomore year of high school (Then there was New England, D.C., summers in Mississippi – TCKs know the drill).

“But I’m not from Kansas actually, mom, because I never was able to get there. It’s like once you’ve lived in these different places, and frankly we left all the time too, and so I was constantly going to different places. But I never was able to get up to speed with people from one place who hadn’t seen behind the curtain.

Once you’ve seen behind the curtain in wartime, it’s very hard to get back to the cheerleaders in the same way.”

Jenkins says she never felt she was from Kansas. “Ever.” In her estimation, she came from two lush, green places – one tropical, in Thailand; the other in Germany.

“Kansas always looks to me exactly like what it is to an outsider,” she conveys. “‘Wow, it’s awfully flat. And quiet. And I sure do miss the city.’ It never felt like home.”

Courtesy of Turner,

YOU’RE FROM KANSAS

Today, family is what Jenkins calls home.

THE BIG EXHALE Jenkins’ two besties from childhood were TCKs — in Kansas, her best friend was from Poland, and later, in Washington D.C., her best friend was the daughter of two French immigrants. Early on, in Kansas, the two little women set their sights on going to art school in 36

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New York City. When the time came, they both received admission to Cooper Union, which has a 16 percent acceptance rate.

Once reunited in the big city, “It was this huge sigh of relief just to be amongst everybody, like it

was irrelevant where you were from. There was no ‘from.’ New York was like a big exhale.”

This is what she called home.

“It was funny because we were both punk rockers and that just disappeared the second we got to New York.” In Kansas, being punk was their way of differentiating themselves and ensuring people knew they were not like everyone else. “But the second we got to New York, it was like, ‘whatever — who cares?’ It was just you, and me, and we’re all different and how great.”

UTOPIA RE-IMAGINED New York’s utopian dream contained everything she cherished: music (punk rock mixed with early ’90s hip hop), art (she’d originally gone to

TCK JOURNEY TO WW1984

STORYTELLING AS LIFE

Courtesy of Turner,

school for painting), eclectic friends and a vibrant social scene full of diverse people. This would be the launching pad for the career we’ve come to know.

Today that career has brought Jenkins full circle: a loving family with husband Sam Sheridan (author and showrunner for Turner’s limited series “I Am The Night,”) and son Asa, who like mom, has spent his imprint years being geographically mobile. Her son has had the last five of his 11 years of schooling in England while Jenkins shot her two latest films, “but he prefers California in a way that makes you realize he’s got an anchor that I didn’t have — where it’s like ‘this speaks to him,’” she says.

Today, family is what Jenkins calls home.

She now has that foundation that many TCKs lack as children.

But Jenkins believes she’s a filmmaker because of her curiosity about people — and that’s a direct result of her geographically mobile upbringing — her TCKness.

“When you move around, you see that everybody is the same but they’re speaking a different language. ‘So what’s your version of tragedy, what’s your version of poverty, what’s your version of fear, what’s your…’ and the stakes are different and the language is different amongst all people, but at your core, you all have these things that unite you as well. “ So, it’s her curiosity in people, but also her interest in finding the universal story — the things that connect us all — to which we relate. “Art to me is when you sing your soul, as specific as it is, and the bell it rings universally, to everybody.”

For more on Patty Jenkins’ TCK Journey, visit cultursmag.com/ Patty-Jenkins

Patty Jenkins with “Wonder Woman 1984” Actor Chris Pine on the set of “I Am The Night.”

~ continued from pg. 35

5. DOES THE SEEMINGLY UNDOABLE: I set out to do sort of opposite things: To both make an absolutely massively delightful spectacle (which I think you only get to do on the heels of another movie that was successful) and I really wanted to make this oldschool. People don’t do that now, so it became incredibly new school and the fact that we did incredible wire work and stunts and things that have never been possible before because nobody tries. They don’t need to because they do it in CG. So, having a chance to do these incredible set pieces with real human bodies flying around [was incredible].

6. IT HAS MEANING: For those that just want to go have a good time, hopefully it’s that. But really all of us collectively tried to say something much deeper and more powerful than you necessarily need to do with a superhero movie.

Because of the times that we’re living in, because if this is a movie that you can get the ears of the world and eyes of the world, then you should take that opportunity to try to move the conversation forward. That was an interesting thing to have your eyes on both targets at the same time. I never wanted it to be lesser than the greatest superhero movie it could aim to be and I wanted to make sure we were always taking that opportunity to try to bring something important to the conversation.

Wonder Woman 1984 is set to launch in theaters the first week of Oct.

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA, YUCATAN

By Doni Aldine 40

Fall 2020 | www.CultursMag.com

M

exico — the most Southern country of the North American continent, is known for its popular tourist areas, beaches and fantastic food and drink. Culturs, however, prefers to get into the local scenes, tuckedaway spaces and little-known history of each destination we visit. With this in mind, this destination was inspired by the hometown of our designer, Diana Vega, and her amazing family.

The country boasts 32 states, on which we will focus on two: Yucatan, which is home to Merida (The Vega Family stomping grounds), a storied and historic city with simple tastes of yesteryear. A stroll through its streets evokes the calm of a quiet Sunday, while its well-worn buildings and cobblestone thoroughfares impart a peacefulness as vast as the gentle soul of its people. We’ll take you through some of these streets, then walk you through a dinner

party with traditional Yucatan foods and provide the tools to create a dinner party of your own.

Traditional recipes are shared in Spanish and English thanks to Vega and her family’s matriarch (who expertly infuses a depth of love into meal preparation that each feast feeds not only their bodies, but their spirits as well). Dinner time in Merida is family time when everyone, including the family’s excitable puppies, comes together until their souls are full.

Good times, love and laughter are as much staples as the “oooos” and “aaaaahs” that linger in the air as steam rises from freshly prepared dishes.

Next we saunter through Jalisco in Central Mexico to walk you through the centuries-old art of tequila making – small batch, cured and done the way they used to in the old times.

We finish with downloadable templates online for you to recreate a Yucatan-inspired feast and tequilainspired or festive non-alcoholic drinks of your own. www.CultursMag.com

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

Monstercate

T A quiet street at sunset.

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he Yucatán Peninsula is located in the southeastern region of Mexico, just shy of Central America. The area is steeped in tradition, architecture, Mayan history and natural wonders.

Mérida is the state’s capital city and is well known for colorful mansions and colonial buildings.

DESTINATION:

MERIDA

NATURE, INSPIRED One of the closest of many beaches to MĂŠrida is Playa Progreso, and throughout the Peninsula there is a world of awe-inspiring cenotes (pronounced Sey-note-tay) which are sinkholes formed when part of the surface layer of earth collapses. These sinkholes create underground caves with natural swimming pools that appear out of nowhere, boasting stalactites hanging from their ceilings and blue-green waters that offer a refreshing respite from the blazing sun and humid air above-ground. These subterranean wonders are said to have been sacred to the Mayans.

The wondrous caves are popular destinations, with some having restaurants, hotels and parks built around them to attract citizens and tourists alike.

Centote Yaxbacaltun in Merida, Yucatan.

The Vega parents (L to R): Gertrudis Basto and Ruben Vega at Progresso, the only beach in Merida's vacinity, about 20 minutes from the city. The popular locale abounds with art, fishing, beaches, shopping and surfside restaurants.

Dragonfly in centote Yaxbacaltun in Merida, Yucatan.

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

RICH IN MANY WAYS As the financial capital (as well as the state capital) and official cultural center, Mérida historically has been called the White City as a nod to its abundant white buildings, as well as, the traditional white clothes worn by inhabitants. Guayaberas are worn by men (the cotton shirts with tell-

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tale vertical seams are perfect for the hot, humid weather); while women sport the Yucatecan terno – traditional white dresses with extravagant embroidered flowers.

Walking through the Zocalo area known as Plaza Grande, one finds churches, markets, museums, restaurants and hotels.

At el Barrio de Santa Ana (previously a space where artisans and laborers would meet), sits Calle 60 or 60th street, with its 400-year-old church devoted to the patrona who has the same name as the neighborhood.

Diuurno

Mexico is known for it's life-sized colourful letters in advertising and throughout its major cities.

A young woman wears the Yucatecan terno – traditional white dresses with its signature of extravagantly embroidered flowers.

MERIDA

CookieMasteri

DESTINATION:

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

PASEO MONTEJO

Doni Aldine

This massive avenue is a hallmark of Merida. Inaugurated in 1904, it is more than six kilometers long, making it one of the longest streets in the state.

The name honors Francisco de Montejo who founded Merida in 1542. A leisurely stroll along the tree-lined boulevard uncovers much of what makes the city special: Houses, monuments, stores and landmarks line both sides of this majestic six lane main street and offer much to see and do. French inspiration is obvious throughout the street and on the mansions that were once upper classes properties that now house restaurants, boutique hotels and museums. During weekends, this colossal avenue closes its roadway for various sports, recreational and cultural activities including concerts, races and carnival.

Monumento a la Patria — an iconic monument along Paseo de Monteo — was sculpted by Rómulo Rozo. At night, colourful light shows add even more interest.

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MERIDA

Doni Aldine

DESTINATION:

Canton Palace.

CANTÓN PALACE This historic butter-yellow building was first the residence of the general Francisco Cantón, governor of Yucatán. It now is the Museo Regional de Antropología and features a permanent exhibition on pre-Hispanic Mayan society, temporary exhibitions, educational workshops and serves as a venue for cultural events.

According to Visit Mexico, the building keeps the neo-French style both on the inside and outside, with many of its decorative elements brought from Europe and in its boom years, the building was reference to the Yucatán high

society. Historians cite wasting of resources that led descendants to bankruptcy, so they lost the palace and deeded the property to the Yucatán government.

The best time to visit

the white city and escape the intense heat and humidity is

December to February

01

the next best time is

March to May,

though the temperature starts to raise during these months and rainy days begin. www.CultursMag.com

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

C

Illustration by Diana Vega

ulturs loves to visit with local residents at our destinations. Whenever possible, we sit down for dinner or a traditional cooking class with our hosts.

In this edition, we had the distinct honor of learning about traditional Yucatan food with our designer and her mother while visiting her home town. Together they organised their favorite foods and have created instructions on how to prepare each mouth-watering dish.

We also provide elements including the recipes, invitations, menus, guest placecards and drink and decor suggestions for you to recreate your own traditional culturally inspired feast for friends.

Whenever possible, we create videos of the cooking instruction as well. To top it all off, we include a timeline of what to do and when so you don't forget a thing.

Find all of these items, plus downloadable templates online at cultursmag.com.

Not enough time to print all the items yourself? Find affordable pre-printed, prepackaged CultursCelebrations online at Celebrations.cultursmag.com.

LET'S GET THE

PARTY STARTED!

MERIDA-INSPIRED CELEBRATION MENU Frijol con puerco Sopa de lima Tacos de carne asada Salbutes Ceviche 48

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

FRIJOL CON PUERCO

Ingredientes para el frijol con puerco • 1 ½ tazas de frijol

finamente picada

• 2 limones partidos

• 8 tazas de agua

• 1 kg de tomate

• 1 aguacate Hass

• 1 diente de ajo

• 5 rábanos picados finamente

• 1 chile habanero

• 1 kg de pierna de puerco en trozos • ½ cebolla blanca

• 1 taza de cilantro finamente picado

Ingredientes para el arroz blanco • 1 taza de arroz blanco

• 4 dientes de ajo finamente picados • 1 cuchara de aceite de oliva • 2 tazas de agua • Sal al gusto Cut here

PORK WITH BEANS PREPARATION In pressure cooker The beans are put in the pressure cooker with water, the pieces of pork, garlic clove and salt. It is covered and heated to simmer until it rings. Once the pressure is out, the pork with beans is ready to serve with the rice and toppings.

In normal pot: The beans are placed in the pot with plenty of water, it is put over high heat and covered. When half-cooked, remove two cups of the broth. Add pork, garlic and clove. Simmer until meat is soft. Turn of the heat and let it rest.

How to make the rice: The finely chopped garlic cloves are sautéed with the olive oil, add the rice (previously washed and drained the excess water with a strainer) and sauté until the grains stop being sticky. Add two cups of

water or bean broth and add salt to taste. Cover the pan and simmer. Turn off the heat once the water has evaporated.

How to make “chiltomate” The tomatoes are washed and covered with foil and placed on the fire. When the tomatoes are soft, they are removed from the heat. They are macerated in a bowl. Chop the coriander and onion. Add them to the tomatoes. Add salt to taste.

HOW TO SERVE In a bowl, place the pork pieces and rice with the bean broth. Place the coriander, onion, radish, avocado, lemon, habanero chili and “chiltomate” to taste as toppings

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

FRIJOL CON PUERCO MODO DE PREPARACIÓN En olla de presión Se limpia el frijol, se lava y se pone en la olla de presión con el agua, se colocan los trozos de puerco, el diente de ajo y la sal al gusto. Se tapa y se pone a cocinar a fuego lento hasta que suene y se apaga el fuego.

En olla normal El frijol se limpia, se lava y se coloca en la olla con bastante agua se pone a fuego alto y se tapa.

Cuando ya esta medio cocido el frijol, se retiran dos tazas del caldo y se colocan los trozos de puerco, el diente de ajo y la sal al gusto. Se tapa y se pone al fuego lento, hasta que la carne ya este suavecita ya se apaga el fuego.

Como preparar el arroz blanco o negro Se sofríe los dientes de ajo finamente picados con el aceite de oliva se añade el arroz (previamente

lavado y escurrido el exceso de agua con un colador) y se sofríe hasta que se despeguen los granos. Se le añaden dos tazas de agua o de caldo de frijol y agrega sal al gusto. Se tapa la cacerola y se pone a fuego lento. Se apaga hasta que se consuma todo el líquido.

Como hacer el chiltomate Se lavan los tomates y se cubren con papel aluminio y se colocan en el fuego. Cuando los tomates estén suaves, se retiran del fuego.

Se maceran en un recipiente, se le coloca una pisca de cilantro y cebolla finamente picado y sal al gusto.

COMO SERVIRLO En un plato honde se sirve el frijol junto con las piezas de puerco y el arroz. Se le coloca el cilantro, cebolla, rábano, aguacate, limón, chile habanero y chiltomate al gusto.

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PORK WITH BEANS

Ingredients: • 1 1/2 cups of black beans

• 1/2 finely chopped white onion

• 2 lemons • 1 avocado

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 8 cups water

• 1 kg tomato

• 1 Habanero chilli

• 2 cups water

• 1 garlic clove

• 5 radishes finely chopped

• 1 kg of chopped pork leg meat

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• 1 cup coriander

Fall 2020 | www.CultursMag.com

Ingredients for white rice: • 1 cup of white rice • 4 garlic cloves, finely

chopped

• Salt

DESTINATION:

MERIDA

SOPA DE LIMA

Ingredientes para la sopa de lima: • 8 tazas de agua

• I jitomate

• 1 diente de ajo

• Pimienta al gusto

• 1 pechuga de pollo (700 gr)

• ½ pimiento morrón verde

• 1 cuchara de aceite de oliva

• Sal al gusto

• 4 limas

• ½ cebolla blanca

• orégano al gusto

• Tortillas de maíz al gusto Cut here

LIME SOUP PREPARATION In pressure cooker Place the chicken inside the pressure cooker with the eight cups of water; add garlic, oregano, pepper and salt to taste. The pot is covered and put it on the stove, when the lid starts to ring turn it off. Wait for the pressure to go away to get the chicken out and shred it.

Squeeze the three limes and put the juice on the side Cut tomato, onion and green pepper in strips and place them in a pan with the olive oil to fry it all together.

How to make the corn tortilla strips: Cut tortillas into strips and fry them. Once fried put them aside to serve with food.

How to make the lime soup: Add the lime juice and the fried tomato, onion and pepper to the broth where the chicken was

cooked. Add two slices of lime and place the soup on fire until boiling.

HOW TO SERVE Place the soup in a bowl, add the shredded chicken and tortilla strips. You can add a little spice with some habanero.

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

SOPA DE LIMA MODO DE PREPARACIÓN En olla de presión Se retira toda la piel del pollo y se lava, se coloca dentro de la olla de presión con las ocho tazas de agua con el ajo, el orégano, la pimienta y sal al gusto.

Se tapa la olla y se pone al fuego, cuando la tapa comience a sonar se apaga. Esperar que se vaya la presión para sacar la pechuga. Se coloca en un recipiente a parte para desmenuzar y reservar para la hora de la comida.

Mientras el pollo se esta cocinando, se cortan las tres limas y se exprimen. Se retiran las semillas y se conserva el jugo en un recipiente a parte.

Se corta el tomate, la cebolla y el pimiento verde y se colocan en una sartén con el aceite de oliva para freírlo todo junto.

Como hacer las tiras de tortilla frita Cortar tortillas en tiras. En una sartén colocar el aceite de oliva, cuando este caliente colocar las tortillas. Retirar las tortillas cuando estén fritas.

Colocar las tortillas en servitoallas para absorber el exceso de aceite. Separar para servir con la comida.

Como hacer el caldo de lima Al caldo donde se cocino la pechuga se le añade el jugo de lima y el sofrito de tomate, cebolla y pimiento y dos rebanadas de lima. Se coloca al fuego hasta que hierva.

COMO SERVIRLO Se coloca el caldo en un plato hondo, se le añade el pollo deshebrado y las tiras de tortilla. Listo para saborear un rico platillo yucateco.

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LIME SOUP

Ingredients: • 8 cups of water

• 1 tomato

• 1 garlic clove

• Pepper

• 1 chicken breast (700 gr)

• 1/2 green bell pepper

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• Salt

• 1/2 white onion

• Oregano

• Corn tortillas

• 4 limes 52

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

TACOS DE CARNE ASADA

Ingredientes para la carne asada: • 1 ½ kilo de arrachera

• Oregano al gusto

• 6 aguacate hass

• 2 cebollas

• 6 limones

• Pimienta al gusto

• 1 ramo de cilantro

• 3 chile habanero

• 4 dientes de ajo

• Sal al gusto

• 10 tomates Cut here

“CARNE ASADA” TACOS PREPARATION Marinade the meat with juice of the lemons; add garlic, pepper, oregano and salt to taste. Keep it like that for at least two hours. Then cook the steaks on the grill, cook it until desired temperature.

How to make the tomato sauce: The tomatoes are placed on the grill. Once cooked, they are removed and crushed. Add coriander, chopped onion and salt to taste.

How to make the habanero chilli sauce: The chillies are placed on the grill. Once cooked, they are removed and crushed. Add the juice of three lemons and salt to taste How to make roasted onion: The onions are placed on the grill. Once cooked, it is removed and cut into strips. Add lemon juice and salt to taste.

How to make guacamole: Cut and crush the avocados in a bowl. Chop three tomatoes, 1/2 onion and coriander and add them to the avocado. Mix everything and add the juice of two lemons and salt to taste.

HOW TO SERVE To make tacos put the roasted meat cut into strips in a corn tortilla. On the meat, place the roasted onion, tomato sauce and guacamole; to add the Yucatecan style, add the habanero sauce.

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

TACOS DE CARNE ASADA MODO DE PREPARACIÓN Se lava la carne y se coloca en un recipiente para marinar con el jugo de 3 limones, el ajo, la pimienta, el orégano y la sal al gusto. Se deja reposar por lo menos dos horas.

Se prepara el carbón en el asador. Tan pronto las brasas estén en su punto de calor, se va colocando los filetes sobre la parrilla. Dejar hasta que estén cocidos al termino deseado.

Como hacer la salsa de tomate: Se colocan los tomates en el asador. Una vez cocidos se retiran y se machacan. Agregar cilantro, cebolla picadas y sal al gusto.

Para hacer la salsa de chile habanero: Se coloca en el asador los chiles. Una vez cocidos se retiran y se machacan. A esto se le agrega el jugo de tres limones y sal al gusto.

Como hacer la cebolla asada: Se colocan las cebollas en el asador. Una vez cocidas se retira y se corta en tiras. Se le puede agregar jugo de limón y sal o comer así Como hacer guacamole: Se quita la cascara y se machacan los aguacates.

Cortan tres tomates, ½ cebolla y cilantro; se agregan al aguacate. Se mezcla todo y se le pone el jugo de dos limones y sal al gusto.

COMO SERVIRLO Para hacer tacos se poner la carne asada cortada en tiras en una tortilla de maíz. Sobre la carne se pone la cebolla asada, la salsa de tomate y el guacamole; para darle un toque al estilo yucateco se agrega la salsa de habanero.

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“CARNE ASADA” TACOS

Ingredients: • 1 1/2 kilo of “arrachera”

• 6 avocados

• 2 onions

• Pepper

• 3 Habanero chili

• Salt

• 6 lemons

• 1 bouquet of coriander

• 4 garlic cloves

• 10 tomatoes

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• Oregano

DESTINATION:

MERIDA

SALBUTES

Cut here

“SALBUTES” Ingredients: • 1 chicken breast (700 gr)

• Avocado

• “Recado rojo”

• Onion

• Lemons

• Pepper

• 500 gr corn dough

• Garlic

• 50 gr wheat flour

• Oregano

• Olive oil

• Salt

• Habanero Chile

• 4 tomatoes • Lettuce

the “recado rojo” and place on the grill and roast it.

Once roasted, shred the chicken.

How to make the “salbute” tortilla base: Place the dough and flour in a bowl with a little water and salt to taste; mix everything. Once the dough is ready, make it into balls and use a maricona to flatten the dough into a tortilla shape.

HOW TO SERVE On the fried tortilla, place a bed of lettuce and on top of it the shredded roast chicken. Put slices of tomato, onion and avocado on top. It can be accompanied with habanero sauce.

PREPARATION To make the roast chicken, boil the chicken and add pepper, oregano, garlic and salt to taste. Dilute the “recado rojo” in the juice of 1/2 lemon and salt to taste. Cover the cooked chicken with the mixture of

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

SALBUTES Ingredientes para los salbutes: • 1 pechuga de pollo (700 gr)

• 4 jitomates

• Recado rojo

• Aguacate

• Limones

• Chile habanero

• Lechuga al gusto

• Cebolla • 500 gr de masa de maíz

• Pimienta al gusto

• 50 gr de harina de trigo

• Orégano al gusto

• Aceite de oliva

• Ajo al gusto • Sal al gusto

MODO DE PREPARACIÓN

y sal al gusto. Ya cocida la pechuga se cubre con la mezcla del recado rojo y se coloca sobre la parrilla y se asa. Una vez asada la pechuga se desmenuza.

Como preparar la tortilla del salbut: Se coloca en un recipiente la masa y la harina con un poco de agua y sal al gusto. Una vez lista la masa se hacen bolitas y se usa la maricona para hacer las tortillas para freír

COMO SERVIRLO Sobre la tortilla frita se coloca una cama de lechuga y encima se pone el pollo asado desmenuzado. Encima se colocan rodajas de tomate, cebolla y aguacate. Se puede acompañar con salsa de habanero.

Para preparar el pollo asado, se hierve el pollo en agua con pimienta, orégano, ajo y sal al gusta. La pasta del recado rojo se diluye con el jugo de ½ limón

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“SALBUTES”

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

CEVICHE DE PESCADO

Cut here

FISH “CEVICHE” Ingredients: • 4 fish fillets

• 1 garlic clove

• 3 lemons

• Pepper

• 4 tomatoes

• Salt

• 1/2 white onion • Cilantro

PREPARATION Cut the fish fillets in small pieces. Place them in a bowl along with the juice of three lemons, garlic, pepper, and salt to taste. Leave it to marinate for at least two hours. Chop the tomato, onion and coriander in small pieces. Then combine everything and let it rest until served.

You can add avocado and habanero chili. Ceviche is eaten with fried tortilla toast.

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

CEVICHE DE PESCADO Ingredientes para el ceviche.

• 4 filetes de pescado

• Cilantro

• 3 limones

• 1 diente de ajo

• 4 tomates

• Pimienta al gusto

• ½ cebolla blanca

• Sal al gusto

MODO DE PREPARACIÓN Se cortan los filetes de pescado en cuadros. Se colocan en un recipiente junto con el jugo de tres limones, el ajo, pimienta y sal al gusto. Se deja marinar por mínimo dos horas. Se pican el tomate, cebolla y cilantro en cuatro pequeños. Se combina todo y se deja reposar hasta servir.

Se puede agregar aguacate y chile habanero. El ceviche se come con tostadas de tortillas frita.

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FISH “CEVICHE”

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DESTINATION:

MERIDA

GET YOUR YUCATAN-INSPIRED

PARTY STARTED!

Visit Celebrations.cultursmag.com to download free tools to create your Cultural celebration today!

TIMELINE

MENU CARDS

INVITATION

Party-planning Timeline of what to do and when

Menu

Andrea Who:_____________________ What: A Yucatan-Inspired

You’re invited!

To a Yucatan-inspired dinner party!

Frijol con puerco

Cultural Dinner Celebration

Sopa de lima

My house Where:___________________

Tacos de carne asada

Sept. 20, 3:00 pm When:____________________

Salbutes

BYOB Special notes:______________

Ceviche

I can't wait to host you!

FOOD RECIPES THANK YOU CARDS

Thank you

Not enough time to print all the items yourself? Find affordable preprinted, prepackaged CultursCelebrations online at Celebrations. cultursmag.com

oming ou for c Thank y arty to my p -Terry

DRINK RECIPE VIDEOS

PLACE CARDS

Fold here

Fold here

Andrea www.CultursMag.com

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DESTINATION MEXICO:

TEQUILA MAKING

HERE'S THE PROCESS: 60

Fall 2020 | www.CultursMag.com

John Johnston Creative

W

idely regarded as the drink consumed in small doses and often chased with salt or lime, tequila has a reputation as a drink for partiers.

Yet in its country of origin, historically it’s known as a sippable drink to be enjoyed quietly with friends, perhaps at the end of a leisurely meal or the start of a memory-making evening.

Tequila is made from the succulent called agave with fleshy leaves that take years to mature and flower. Agave is grown in a limited section of Mexico and more than 90 percent of the production comes from a regulated area in Jalisco, central Mexico.

We spoke with the experts at Suerte Tequila, specifically because of their approach to the process — which honors the age-old traditions of tequila-making.

While many well-known tequilas are made from the same distillery in Mexico, often distinguished only by their packaging and marketing, Suerte takes its time to create a quality product.

We love this photo journey from agave to tequila — and we especially love the recipes added to our Yucatan-inspired CultursCelebrations! Let us know what you think on social @Cultursmag

Jimadors use tools to remove spiny leaves to expose the pina, or heart of the agave that is grown in iron-rich, volcanic soil.

Agave is quartered

Stacked

Roasted for days.

Agave is quartered, stacked and roasted for days.

Suarte is known for manually crushing agave with a Tahona for 16+ hours.

Days of fermentation, then double distillation, filtration, then rest.

Charred white oak whiskey barrels now age tequila.

Hands-on bottling includes a final tequila rinse before filling. All so you can enjoy the subtle flavor with family, friends and love.

For Dia de Muertos Culturs partnered with Suerte for specialty giveaways.

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FINDING HOME:

Gondolas at night, Venice, Italy

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HOW FINE ART CAN BE ACT OF KINDNESS FOR THE SOUL

Story and art by Peter Lo

G

rowing up as a Third Culture Kid with a rich but very diverse heritage; from Scotland to China to India to Malaysia, and as a serial expat and lover of travel, I am no stranger to transitions and the richness of exploration. This tension expresses itself in my artwork. I paint to capture magical memories in time of “home” to promote a sense of well-being through belonging — of being able to be home whilst being away.

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Always on the move, I find myself constantly in a cycle of having left, leaving, returning and being returned — and that is why I paint. Hanging art in my home helps me to travel back or forward in time, between my heritage, between my travels, and at the end of the day to steal that quiet moment for myself of enjoying the sacred act of being back home. And, in that moment, art for me, is enacting kindness for the soul.

Cherry Blossoms, Scotland

Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong

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As a self-taught artist, I paint in watercolours as I love the spontaneity of this medium that suits my desire to capture essence.

I now paint for expatriates, Third Culture Kids and travelers. My work ships all over the world for people who resonate with my story; those who have several places they like to call home.

THE MESSAGE: Ultimately, I use my art as a tool to help people’s wellbeing and to discover their meaning of home. As a wider body of work, it is to celebrate our diversity as a humanity and prompt us to safeguard our beautiful planet.

Learn more and connect with Peter Lo at: peterloart@gmail.com or follow him on Instagram @peterloart Peter Lo

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AVAILABLE NOW

African American Princess Affirmations

I am I can

do

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I can

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heights

52 affirmations to repeat each week of the year.

Brainchild of stylist LaChanda Gatson, her dream was to create positive images of black girls.

Coupled with her penchant for positive affirmation, these gorgeous, one-of-a-kind cards were born.

PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR THE GIRL IN YOU! As seen:

Scan here or visit Princess.Cultursmag.com Get yours today! $19.95

From shows to watch and songs to hear, to artistry, shopping and things to explore, know and do, here's a specially curated list of things we recommend as MUST experience items for the culturally fluid.

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A CREATIVE influenced by life in

SYDNEY, LONDON AND INDIA revives Historic Bollywood Posters

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ulturs connects with Gerard John, co-founder of FlyingKiteStudios. com (FKS), to discuss how real life inspires art through cultural fusion as he leads the FKS team on their first cinematic co-production with India. The planned feature film pays homage to the brave men who designed and hand-painted the iconic 50-foot tall Indian Cinema posters of last century.

These artists used colour to communicate heightened emotions as their paintings spoke “a thousand words” captivating and connecting audiences beyond the limitations of more than 300 dialects throughout India.

The FKS vision is to first recapture the romantic heroic moods of these poster paintings

via a photo shoot designed to inspire the film development team in all areas ranging from script, music and design.

Being an Indian-born, thirdgeneration entertainer who spends his time between Sydney and London, Gerard considers himself “born into cultural artistic fusion and creativity.” He draws on ancestral influences (Nada, Brahman and Portuguese) plus personal experiences and training in the arts to inspire his creativity.

As a multi-award-winning composer, actor and producer, the stage is set for him to reconnect with his Indian roots and fans as the lead actor, composer and producer on this upcoming film “The Last Film Poster Painter.”

Featured also is model Swaranli Sikdar Das, a vibrant fashion stylist, who was discovered on FKS’ casting platform FlixWorks.com. Sikdar Das’ natural warmth personifies the classical beauty of the iconic Indian matriarch. Together the two capture the quintessential romance and longing of the Bollywood embrace.

This photo shoot showcases classical Indian styling juxtaposed with flamboyant tapestry of SteamPunk fashion worn by John and crafted by Australian designers, Gallery Serpentine. Together they recreate the timeless swoon of surrender and connection. www.GallerySerpentine.com is happy to offer Culturs readers10% discount with the following code: Gerard John Bollywood Steam Punk

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Photography by Beata Lubas

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This Polish Expat found her Life’s Work in the U.K.

and the results are delicious

B

eata Lubas left her native Poland at age 20, purchased a one-way ticket to England and embarked on an adventure that she hoped would reveal her true direction in life.

It wasn’t until she took a chance on a food photography competition and finished as a finalist that she seriously considered a career doing what she loved best: photography.

Today, Lubas has 128k followers on Instagram (@bealubas) and creates food stories for clients all around the world, working with magazines and brands including Waitrose and Royal Doulton. Her mission is to convey the deliciousness of her subjects in visual ways. She is passionate about educating and motivating aspiring photographers through her workshops and online tutorials. The most rewarding part of the job, for her, is being able to help students discover something new about the craft of photography and take their work to the next level.

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All of this is expressed in her new book “How to Photograph Food,” published in the UK

by Ilex.

For mouthwatering inspiration, and impeccable tips on how to create visual masterpieces of your own, pick up a copy at online booksellers worldwide. £25.00

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A First Nations Filmmaker

Makes the Most of Turbulent Times ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE FILM MIRRORS PANDEMIC

By Antoinette Lee Toscano

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Prospector Films

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en years in the making, “Blood Quantum” is a new zombie apocalypse film by First Nations Writer, Director, Film Editor and Composer Jeff Barnaby (best known for his debut feature film “Rhymes for Young Ghouls”). It is a timely portrayal of deadly disease, xenophobia, survival and creating a post-pandemic new normal.

“Blood Quantum” is true to the genre of zombie film making.

It is also rich in Indigenous culture. The characters are complex, the cinematography is artful and the parallels between the zombie plague and life after the COVID-19 pandemic are subtle, yet coincidentally striking.

Blood Quantum movie poster. A film by Jeff Barnaby.

The film is an excellent distraction as cities around the world begin to re-open after our very real COVID-19 pandemic. In the plotline, the dead are coming back to life because there is a zombie plague and only a group of Indigenous inhabitants — the Mi’gmaq people on the Reserve of Red Crow in Listuguj (Quebec, Canada) are immune.

“I wanted the themes in Blood Quantum to be a bare-knuckled look into the frustrations of racism.

To exist is to hold a line,” Barnaby says. “That has a romantic, noble savage shine to it — but the truth is, you’re not holding that line so much as that line is holding you, and you get held there until you hate the world for treating you differently or hate yourself for being different.”

The concepts, political undertones, the struggle to create a multicultural, post-apocalypse community, as well as pre- and post-colonial dilemmas abound.

“Blood Quantum” uses all the familiar zombie flick tropes, yet it offers more than escape from reality. It brings the “woke” viewer along for a head nodding (in agreement) ride. Yet, for those who are not so well-versed in the struggles of aboriginal people around the world, it envokes deep thought. Perhaps it will also cause you to have some uncomfortable conversations about race, class, and post-colonial fears and injustice.

Photography Luis Mora

MUST l WATCH

Writer/Director Jeff Barnaby.

“I’ve based my entire life around the truth that art can transcend hate and alter perceptions; I know this for fact because art has done this for me more than once,” Barnaby emphasizes.

If you know North American history, you’ll understand why the Indigenous people in the film, on the Reserve of Red Crow, are once-again divided over offering aid and shelter.

“With less than 5,000 speakers, my language is disappearing, as what’s left of the Mi’gMaq nation assimilates into the new world. The ideas behind “Blood Quantum” are more than just plot points to a horror film.

The Mi’gMaq are in extinction protocol,” he says.

As Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) on every continent are demanding social justice and inclusion, “Blood Quantum” is a creative reveal of

what could happen if the people of the world do not figure out how to coexist in harmony.

Barnaby was born on a Mi’gmaq reserve in Listuguj, Quebec. His filmmaking paints a stark and scathing portrait of post-colonial Indigenous life and settler culture.

“I know that there will be loss and tragedy in the grand pursuit of equality. I know that the survival of being Mi’gMaq, of being Navajo, Nava’Maq, is synonymous with cultural synergy. I don’t know what I’ll lose in this pursuit of the idea of harmony, but I know wanting to take the journey makes holding onto my humanity, understanding forgiveness, and grief, and love and hate, and never slipping into despair, is mandatory.”

Just like North American history, “Blood Quantum’s” ending is messy, unclear, and filled with anxiety about the future of humankind.

The film promises an emotional ride from hands over face gore, to heart-wrenching character dynamics, and a few laughs.

Catch Blood Quantum on Shudder and Crave streaming services.

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RADICAL. SELF. CARE.

T

hat’s the promise promoted by Go Deep, a company committed to helping people transform their bodies with enhanced energy, focus and sleep.

CEO Dana Knowles Licko is a former TV news reporter and multicultural stay-at-home mom who wanted to take control of her health after battling, and overcoming, a post-surgery painkiller addiction.

On the search for a solution to make her feel more healthful and energized, she spent years developing various blends of adaptogenic herbs, medicinal mushrooms and collagen that would eventually transform her mind and body.

Collagen helped her hair grow and thicken, while also reviving her skin’s youthful glow. It also helped heal her gut, which in her words, “was a mess.” Her mixes provided bountiful energy during the day and helped her fall and stay asleep at night.

Since the blends helped Licko take back power and have better control over her health and wellness, now she’s on a mission to help others change their lives the way her products changed hers.

According to Licko, GoDeep is the only company making these power-packed, life-enhancing blends: POWER protein blend for energy RELAX to calm ACTIVATE for that get-up-and-go Available online, the site also provides suggested recipes for smoothies, smoothie bowls, activated coffee and tea and overnight oats to begin or continue a radical health care journey. $42 - 45 at www.GoDeep.Live www.CultursMag.com

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This Fitness Expert is on a Mission to Unlock Your Limitless Potential 78

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Tommy McMillion

I

n 2003, Brandon Kelly was in a horrific motorcycle accident.

He broke multiple limbs, snapped his pelvis in half and suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.

Today, because of that experience, he believes we are all perfect machines. “I wouldn’t have been able to just get out of my accident or continue living if everything hadn’t worked out in the exact precise manner to let my life continue on,” he says. “It helped me understand that we’re all doing the exact same thing.”

His mission is to remind each of us that, indeed, we are perfect machines.

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Kelly created Midas Touch Lifestyle and Fitness, a community dedicated to expanding and understanding human potential and performance. Midas Touch serves as a reminder that there is nothing we cannot achieve once we make the decision. “The time has come to wake up from our coma, because we have many things to go and touch. We 80

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literally shape ourselves and the world around us into whatever we want. We want to show you how to reshape your body so that we can all learn how to reshape the world,” he says.

As a fitness professional, Kelly emphasizes that it begins with movement. “The first step is waking up and turning our bodies back on. The energy is there, we just have to flip the switch.”

During this incredible journey, Kelly found the Japanese art of Kendama けん玉 — a challenging wooden skill toy that originated more than a century ago and now is played around the globe.

According to Kendama U.S.A., the game challenges and strengthens many physical motor skills including hand eye coordination, balance and reflex.

MUST l BUY

Now a fierce advocate for the toy that can make you not only physically, but mentally strong, Kelly shows the results of his journey in a photo series and Calendar intended to help individuals jumpstart the new year with focus.

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Sang Taraash

IN STONE— the mason’s stroke.

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Stone Carvers of Kashmir at Work Story and photos by Mudabbir Ahmad Tak

M

an is tough.

Some men are anyway — strong and resilient and stubborn and with the will to break the hardest of stones and carve them into different shapes. It is fascinating how with a few simple tools, man can break down a mountain into tiny irrelevant pieces — mountains turned to mortars and pestles.

These pictures try to speak to that confounding mystery — the will of man, which may sometimes be stronger than a mountain, and sometimes more capricious than dust.

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(Next page) At work. Ali Mohammad, a 35-year old stone carver from Zewan, has been giving shapes to rocks since he was a kid. “My father was also a Sang Taraash. I used to go with him to his workshop and with his mallet and chisel, I would bang at stones. I love this work.”

(Top) Unfinished. Ali Mohammad has taken a loan from a bank to get his son admitted in an engineering college. “He didn’t want to do this.

So I thought he should become an engineer. I would carve stones and he would use them in the structures he builds,” he says, with a spark in his eyes.

I am from Kashmir, the Indian administered part of the picturesque Himalayas where there is a lot more to see than mountains and valleys and meadows and rivers and lakes and ancient gardens.There are people to see and cultures that fascinate.

Kashmiris have a special affinity for stones: We build our homes on plinths made of stones, our gardens are decorated with fountains made out of stone and we bury our dead and remember them by carving their names on tombstones. While stones surround us so intimately, through my pictures I have tried to document, to a small extent, the lives and routines of the

Endless toil on stone has wrinkled his hands, but his grip remains solid.

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people who work with them all day. The pictures capture both the work and life of the stone carvers, which might actually be the same thing — and also focus on the different types of carving work that these men do in their shabby workshops. Many of us pass these workshops each day, listening to cling-clang of the mallets hitting chisels, but never imagining the pain and the sweat that goes on behind that monotonous, yet sweet sound.

The master, the tamer of rock.

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Carving tools include mallet, chisels and a metal straight edge (for making flat surfaces). Chisels are of various types depending upon their use: They all need to be sharp though.

(Left) Mohammad Shabaan specializes in making millstones. He has no complaints against anyone. “Allah tala Karin saarni raham (may Allah bless all).�

(Right) IN HEART- epitaphs carved on tombstones.

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(Top left) SANG TARAASH — master mason.

The stone and Kashmir Stone-carving has been an important part of life in Kashmir, whether it be the veneering technique used in building Kashmiri homes, the curbstones used in pathways or the use of stones in gardens, fountains or other such special structures. Stone has always been there.

(Bottom) Although the sales are going down, stone still is a very important part of our lives, and the Sang Taraash is the master of the stone.

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A grinding life.

Set up on the roadside at a place called Sempora, Pampore along the highway that connects Srinagar (the summer capital of this region) to the rest of India, there are workshops where banker masons (stonemasons who specialize in working on stones) aesthetically create amazing artifacts by their hard work. These people are sawyers and carvers too, they are master masons.

These stone carvers are called Sang Taraash in the Kashmiri language, and they are a dying breed.

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TECHNOLOGY

By Andrea Bazoin, M.Ed., Founder of everHuman

Coping with Chaos in

2020 AND BEYOND

Courtesy of Daily Haloha.

CAN 2020 GET ANY MORE STRESSFUL?

Haloha Wall.

The chaos of 2020 has forced us to reckon with centuries of structural injustice. Although we can see the light of hope shining through the cracks, the process of tearing down and rebuilding is as uncertain as it is painful.

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If what you need is a little peace of mind, I invite you to check out five resources that can get you through the rest of 2020 and beyond.

DO YOU FEEL ME

Courtesy of Daily Haloha.

Remember the last pre-Covid conversation you had with a trusted friend about the meaning of life? Chances are you felt safe enough to be vulnerable, invested enough to be engaged, and curious enough to really listen. These are the ingredients of connection, which is what many of us are sorely lacking in this moment.

Daily Haloha, created by New York-based Amy Giddon, has the power to restore your sense of connection to humanity, without ever leaving your house. The app presents a single, thoughtprovoking, fill-in-the-blank

App Store Screen.

Courtesy of Daily Haloha.

TECHNOLOGY

statement each day.

“It was a big turning point when…” “...would be a dream come true.”

“Spirituality is…”

Participants share their responses anonymously, which are displayed on a wall for everyone to read. In a moment, one is able to get a glimpse inside the minds of hundreds of strangers — creating an instant sense of connection to a global community. Currently more than

ten thousand people from over 110 countries subscribe to the app.

The app was inspired by Giddon’s experience encountering the now famous “Subway Therapy” that spontaneously occurred just after the 2016 presidential election results were announced. In Subway Therapy, one by one, thousands of sticky notes were adhered to the walls of NYC subway stations, each with an anonymous yet heartfelt expression of grief, hope and everything in between.

“We saw that [such public installations] were uniquely capable of creating a shared moment of humanity among anonymous strangers,” Giddon reflects. “We realized the thing that created this magic moment of togetherness was that they were anonymous, free of judgement and free from status.

Social media promises connection but hasn’t delivered. It is often fueled by judgement, comparison and performance.”

Daily Haloha is not for racking up “connections” or “likes,” rather it allows for collective reflection. “We think collective reflection can rekindle empathy,” she affirms. “Because it is selfreflection connected with everyone else’s experience.”

Download Daily Haloha on Google Play or the Apple Store. www.CultursMag.com

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Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey of Shine.

MINDFULNESS FOR US,

BY US The word “mindfulness” may conjure an image of someone in yoga pants and prayer beads, sitting peacefully on a rock overlooking the ocean. If you don’t own beachfront property (or prayer beads, for that matter), you may think mindfulness isn’t for you.

Yet, caring for mental and emotional health is a universal need.

Shine is “on a mission to make caring for your mental and emotional health easier, more representative, and more inclusive — of all of our experiences.”

Created by Co-Founders Marah Lidey and Naomi Hirabayashi, Shine offers inclusive meditations, personalized affirmations, 92

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WHAT UP, DOC

gratitude journaling and a diverse community of participants.

Shine app is available on Google Play and the Apple Store.

Pursuing a Masters degree in Public Health while also working full-time, Ashlee Wisdom developed sudden and severe hives. On top of the demands of school, she experienced daily microaggressions at work which caused stress and anxiety. At first Ashlee wondered if she was having an allergic reaction to something. Eventually she

LIBERATE While Shine focuses on opening the door of meditation to all, the Liberate app includes meditation practices and talks designed for the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) experience, led by BIPOC teachers. More than 40 BIPOC teachers provide “culturallyrelevant practices that are essential for healing.”

Liberate app service is subscription-based and is available on Google Play and the Apple Store.

Courtesy of Health In Her HUE.

Photography Angela Owens.

TECHNOLOGY

Courtesy of Health In Her HUE.

TECHNOLOGY

WHAT NOW You may be familiar with the concept of Design Thinking. First, identify a problem, then brainstorm ideas, prototype the best ones, test them out and viola! A new solution. The problem is, in such chaotic times,

Courtesy of The MindShare Network.

consulted an allergist, who ran many tests but found no causes.

Soon after, she left her job and, just as suddenly as they had appeared, the hives subsided.

“If I had been comfortable enough to tell my white doctor about microaggressions I experienced at work, she might have identified the stress-related factors of my reaction. At the same time, I was learning about the many social factors that impact health. I wanted to help black women feel more empowered as they navigated a healthcare system that isn’t built with them in mind.”

Black women have higher instances of infant and maternal mortality, late-stage breast cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes and more. Wisdom founded Health in Her HUE to connect Black women to Black and culturally competent healthcare providers.

Health In Her HUE is available to all and can be accessed at https:// app.healthinherhue.com.

we often have no idea what “the problem” is in the first place.

Over 20 years ago, brothers Ed and Dave Goodman, Co-Founders of The MindShare Network, began teaching Spiral Thinking.™ “It’s a big leap, beyond Design Thinking,” explains Ed. “Design Thinking is for incrementally improving an existing idea, Spiral Thinking™ is used for transformation and true innovation. You start by defining what matters most to you. Then, you envision, execute, and experience a new future. We have toolkits for life, health, happiness, career, company engagement and innovation.”

Visit www.mindsharenetwork. com to try the Happiness Express toolkit, free.

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TRANSNATIONAL THIRD CULTURE KID FILMMAKERS

Calli Webb

By Myra Dumapias

The crew interviews community leader Anita Bautista at the Filipino American National Historical Society in Stockton, Calif.

Behind the Scenes of Transnational Film With Adult TCK

CLAIRE MIRANDA

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Despite transnational filmmaking potentially being a journey of challenges, some filmmakers still choose this genre to tell their stories.

Hurdles include logistical issues of fitting a film into typical standards according nation or region (elemental in most funding opportunities, inclusion into festivals and distribution requirements).

TRANSNATIONAL THIRD CULTURE KID FILMMAKERS

Streaming technology has provided new opportunities, especially now that COVID-19 has necessitated changes in the immediate future of cinema. The first step, however, still is funding support, which is limited because co-production grants usually are for partners within the same continents. The international co-production funding opportunities that allow for intercontinental collaborations are often from Europe and do not include all continents. Another major hurdle, especially in working with investors, is defining a “main market” when the target audience of the film is fluid or cross-cultural.

C

laire Miranda is one those brave filmmakers who have chosen the transnational film journey (even with its inherent hurdles). She gives us a glimpse of the victories a transnational filmmaker has to win before projects can reach the screen for viewing:

MD: I hear you are working on a film project that has historical significance and that your team is spread around the world.

CM: We’ve been working on a film project that explores Filipino American identity. The project has been in development since 2016 so it’s evolving in terms of format and the intent behind it. As you can well imagine, telling stories about identity has multiple inroads and invites all kinds of approaches and storytelling possibilities.

MD: Why is this project important to you and why is it important for the cross-cultural community?

CM: The project has been a personal one to me, inspired by my mother’s work with diaspora Filipinos.

Having grown up in the diplomatic community and having lived amongst Filipinos in Singapore, Australia, the United States and now here in my passport country (Philippines), I’ve had to confront my own reality about who I am in relation to other Filipinos and the rest of the world.

There are questions that have haunted me my entire life: • Who do we become when we leave one culture for another?

• Why is it so hard to fit in?

• Is identity something we can claim or decide for ourselves, or must we wait to somehow earn it from others?

I feel these are questions I share with other TCK (Third Culture Kid) and diaspora Filipinos, immigrants and their families. While I can write (and have written) about these things in an essay or poem, there are stories that can’t be contained on a written page. A visual medium would allow us a much bigger space to tackle these themes, and eventually, a wider reach.

MD: Yes, TCKs who identify “in-between” can also relate to the immigrant experience.

The process of making transnational films is fascinating because the filmmaker, the production process, the cast and crew, and/or the subject matter is all about crossing borders or the space in-between borders. It’s exactly a genre for TCKs. What has gone into this film project so far, and who have been involved? www.CultursMag.com

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TRANSNATIONAL THIRD CULTURE KID FILMMAKERS

and booking airline tickets from multiple locations.

Luckily visas are not a problem for any of us and I hope that continues to be the case.

There are challenges inherent in the subject we chose and one of them is point of view: do I have the right to tell these stories?

While I was raised in the United States, have a deep cultural connection to the U.S., and my whole family is Filipino American, I often don’t feel quite equal to Filipino Americans who were U.S.-born, or naturalised citizens. So, I’m grateful that our stakeholders and storytellers have entrusted their stories to us. More than their approval of the work, there is incredible power in their recognition and acceptance of me as one of their own. That has been invaluable to me and to the team.

What has proven far trickier to resolve is the question of authorship: is this a Filipino project, or a North American one? These are current hurdles given the transnational nature of both the material and its intended market. When we go to source additional funding or look for partners, this question can pose some real challenges.

Calli Webb

CM: Since 2016, we have been collecting footage, doing research, traveling for interviews and immersing ourselves in Filipino American communities. We’ve been on the receiving end of the generosity and openness of community leaders in Seattle, New Orleans, and Stockton in Calif., who have taken us into their homes and have trusted their stories with us. We’re receiving mentoring and guidance from Dr. Dorothy Cordova, a highly regarded, well-loved historian and researcher.

Often during the course of filming, we would be asked “where are you all from?” and “how do you all know each other?” Maybe because we’re such diverse group.

The truth is the core of the team is based in Manila and a few of us have been friends since college.

Our director and editor, who were at film school together in London, reached out to friends they’d made along the way. We handpicked our team not based on where they happened to be or where they were from: I was more focused on whether they were the best fit for the project. I knew I wanted a multicultural team, because a diversity in perspectives and experiences would enrich the collaboration process and the product.

MD: Where is everybody working from?

CM: During filming in 2016-2017, our team consisted of four of us in Manila, a cinematographer from India and another, an award-winning Filipina filmmaker, was working in Portugal. Our photographer currently lives in Los Angeles. We all met, some for the first time, when we started filming in Seattle.

MD: So, a truly transnational film crew!

What are the challenges of creating a film like this aside from the inconvenience of working with different time zones and the geographical distance?

CM: The inconveniences of geography, if we could call them that, would be the same as any project or work endeavour, even if all of us were working in Manila: who’s available, who can allot months at a time out of their schedules to commit to one project.

Travel costs would be another consideration of course

Claire Miranda with historian Marina Espina, Chalmette Battlefield, Louisiana

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Claire Miranda

TRANSNATIONAL THIRD CULTURE KID FILMMAKERS

also don’t only identify as “Asian American.” I claim Malaysia as a home because I grew up there the longest but at the same time, it isn’t exclusive of my sense of belonging with other people that share other parts of my identity.

That’s one example of why the stories in your film (L to R): Calli Webb, Krish Makhija, Moshe Ladanga, Katrin Escay and Claire Miranda in Stockton, Calif. project are extremely valuable. How can people I have considered joining festivals, but the criteria interested in seeing this film produced help are often determined based on geography. For you tell these stories? example, a Southeast Asian or Asian film festival CM: Our social media presence is still being built would expect your entry be an Asian story, set in and updates are few, but interested people can Asia. Grant eligibility requirements also usually have connect with us on Twitter: @dreamlanddoc and geographical restrictions. Criteria are often based on Instagram @storiesfromdreamland geography, or the citizenship of the film’s producer and director.

MD: With your film project, what would you say is your intended audience, at least This interview is dedicated to the late Dawn Mabalon, currently, and do you foresee any challenges ground-breaking historian, scholar, community organizer, with targeting to an audience? author of “Little Manila is in the Heart,” and co-author of CM: Our intended audience is young people who “Journey for Justice;” and the late Lorna Dumapias, who are asking themselves “Who am I, really?” or “Who do unearthed stories of Filipino Americans in Historical I want to be?” So, it’s not limited to Filipino Americans Filipinotown Los Angeles through the anthology she but what we believe to be a multiracial, co-authored, “Filipino-American Experience: the Making multigenerational audience. While this is a project for of a Historical Cultural Monument” and about Filipino Americans, I feel the themes we Mabalon raised awareness about the history behind want to explore will resonate with anyone who has landmarks in Stockton, Calif., U.S.A. while working with grown up between cultures. The challenge is getting the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which people to see that these stories from the in-between resulted in the official recognition of the area as Little are important, and these voices must be amplified.

Manila Historic Site. Thank you, for being grounded in MD: As a TCK and someone who also your roots yet knowing how to make a rootless constant knows how it feels to belong to a strong and newcomer like me feel welcome and “part of the gang.” active Filipino-American (Fil-Am) Dumapias played a leading role in preserving the community, such as my people in or who Filipino Christian Church as an official historical have supported Historic Filipinotown Los monument, now only the second listing in the National Angeles, I can attest to how someone can Registry of Historic Places related to Filipino-Americans. develop a sense of belonging to both an Thank you, Aunty, for helping me, the niece that neither immigrant population as well as the rootless grew up in the U.S. nor in Philippines, feel grounded by identity of a TCK. Part of my identity is encouraging me to claim the Filipino-American influenced by my Filipino background, but I community as my own. www.CultursMag.com

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Courtesy of Turner

Gerald Ambrosine

Collection of murals by artist Fernando Castro Pacheco on permanent display in the Government Palace in in Merida’s Plaza Grande.

Doni Aldine

Patty Jenkins on set.

Doni Aldine

BEHIND THE SCENES

Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins being interviewed at the Sundance Film Festival.

The Sign at Progresso Beach 20 minutes outside of Merida, Yucatan.

Recently married, the happy couple (L to R): Alvaro Buenfil and Diana Vega sit in Merida's popular "confidente" chairs, which line the city's main downtown avenue and allow lovers to gaze into each other's eyes with ease.

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Doni Aldine

Doni Aldine

The Vega Family enjoys each other’s company (L to R): Ruben, Gertrudis, Andrea, Diana and the puppies, Allende and Lorenzo

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Life inspiration from fitness expert Brandon Kelly

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