Fil-Am filmmaker wins top prize in Sundance short films category

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) — Filipino American filmmaker Kayla Abuda Galang's "When You Left Me On That Boulevard" has won the grand jury prize for short film category at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

Set in 2006, the film is about teenager Ly and her cousins who get high before a family Thanksgiving celebration at their aunt's house in San Diego, California.

"When You Left Me On That Boulevard" premiered at Sundance on Jan. 21.

Galang was born in Olongapo City and was raised in California and Texas, according to her profile. She explores the themes of home, family, and belonging in her works, it also said.

Her previous short films "Joan on the Phone" and "Learning Tagalog With Kayla" both premiered at South by Southwest festival, with the latter bagging the Audience Award.

Galang is currently developing two feature films: "'06-'07," a coming-of-age comedy set in mid-2000s southeast San Diego; and "On Earth as it is in Heaven," a comedy about familial grief set in present-day Houston.