L.A. Renigen Movies
- 2008
A woman searching for her parents goes on an unexpected journey of self-discovery in this comedy-drama with music from filmmaker H.P. Mendoza. Bethesda (L.A. Renigen) never knew her mother when she was growing up; she was adopted by a family on the East Coast as a baby and has grown up wanting to know the truth about her birth parents. After a visit to the Philippines in search of her cultural identity, Bethesda has come to San Francisco, where she was born, in search of her mother. Bethesda, who is a performance artist, rents a room in a loft complex in San Francisco's Castro district, where she strikes up a fast friendship with a number of fellow artists living there. While Bethesda finds support and understanding from her new friends, she resents being regarded as a "fag hag," since the lion's share of her new pals are gay. However, as Bethesda is immersed in San Francisco's gay community and art scene, she begin to develop a greater understanding of herself and her identity that has a powerful impact on her work. Also starring Mike Curtis, E.S. Park and Theresa Navarro, Fruit Fly includes a handful of musical numbers featuring original songs by writer and director Mendoza; the film won the Audience Award at the 2009 San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- L.A. Renigen
The title of the teen musical comedy Colma: The Musical incorporates a colloquialism regionally specific to the San Francisco area: "Colma" references a northern California town once established as a necropolis and still used as a burial place. That burg serves as the setting of the picture, but here director-cinematographer-editor-choreographer Richard Wong expands the meaning of 'Colma' to characterize the small town as a place of utter boredom and spiritual death for its young residents. The teenagers at the center of the picture continue to suffer from that malaise: Rodel (scripter H.P. Mendoza, Maribel (L.A. Renigen) and Billy (Jake Moreno). The three rebel against the status quo by periodically breaking into peppy musical numbers - songs original to the film, done in the inimitable style of '80s new wave rock. The premise of the picture has each teen grappling with the pain and sorrow of a recent romantic break-up, while they attempt to figure out what to do with their lives, given perceived limited options; as the foremost character, Billy takes a part in a local theatrical production and accepts a job working for an oddball proprietor of a men's store. He also finds a new girlfriend in thesp Tara (Sigrid Sutton) but can never quite manage to shake off the lingering memories of his last paramour (Kat Kneisel). The picture packs in thirteen new songs and waxes crisp and snappy, despite its occasional sad-eyed undertones. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jake Moreno, H.P. Mendoza, (more)
