Diane Paragas: A Mother, A Daughter, A Girl with a Dream

““Yellow Rose is a story of perseverance. Rose is almost as old as the film took to make by the time I made it — almost 17 years old.”

Diane Paragas is a Filipino-American documentary and narrative film director who produced the 2011 documentary, “Brooklyn Boheme,” a portrait of the Black arts movement in Fort Greene during the mid 1980s through the 90s. Paragas called in from her apartment in Brooklyn, New York, with a view of Manhattan on the right, preparing for the October 9, 2020 theatrical release of her debut feature-film, “Yellow Rose.”

Drawing from real-life interviews with families detained by ICE, Paragas in “Yellow Rose” vividly portrays the story of Rose, an undocumented 17-year-old Filipina (played by Tony Award Nominee Eva Noblezada), who aspires to become a country music performer in Austin, Texas. When Rose’s mother is taken in by ICE and faces deportation, Rose is confronted with the struggle to find a place to call home.

Photo Courtesy of Diane Paragas

Photo Courtesy of “Yellow Rose” (2020)

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.