As We Leave
,
It Follows
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https://seedandspark.com/FUND/AS-WE-LEAVE-IT-FOLLOWSThe Story
Two second-generation immigrant friends Jonah, a Filipino-American, and Gabriela, a Mexican-American, return to Houston, Texas for the first time in years as a record-strength hurricane rapidly approaches the city. They are returning to help, or convince, their families to evacuate before the storm makes landfall within 48 hours. As they retread their childhood neighborhoods, they re-encounter the reasons they left. Jonah’s separated or absent family, alienated from the Filipino community; Gabriela’s family being displaced from their home.
As the sky darkens, Gabriela’s undocumented cousin loses his shelter in the storm, forcing them to seek a new safe place for all of them. Jonah’s ability to help is now reliant on a repressed memory from his upbringing that he has not yet come to terms with - something that Gabriela can sense even if he will not share it.
The question arises: can Jonah and Gabriela put aside their placelessness in order to place their trust in each other?
Director's note
As We Leave, It Follows springs from my desire to sum up two decades of growing up as a second-generation Filipino-American in Texas - a place that neither me nor my family were born in, but nonetheless became a home for us
Over the last couple years of working as a filmmaker and organizer in Texas, I have experienced the collective memories and experiences of minority and immigrant communities across the state. Our shared backgrounds and cultures across generations coming together to shape our present and work towards a new future. Today, as a result of these collective histories, myself and several other Texas are asking: is there a future in this state for us? Is there a future for our cultures or our dreams and aspirations?
This questioning is what pushes the film’s characters to seek answers and, simultaneously, is what drives myself to tell this story. Not as a way to find those answers, but as a challenge to keep asking those questions. One might have an answer, but a majority of Texans are still searching. I’ve been finding myself summing up these stories about Texas, into one.
This story isn't just mine. It's ours.
JHAD VILLENA
Director
As We Leave, It Follows is a visual journey inspired by the director's experience as a second-generation Filipino-American in Texas—a place that feels both foreign and familiar, where past and present converge. As an immigrant of Samoan heritage, born in New Zealand and raised in Sydney, Australia, and having lived and worked in Dallas, TX for several years, I sought to capture this complex connection through the lens.
The camera serves as both observer and participant, using light and composition to reflect the tension between rich histories and an uncertain future. The lighting choices and camera angles aim to convey the duality of familiarity and estrangement in a land that may or may not have room for us.
My role as cinematographer is not to provide answers but to visually evoke the questions the director’s characters face. By highlighting contradictions, beauty, and unease, I hope to prompt viewers to see that while some find resolution, many are still searching. Through this film, I aim to challenge viewers to keep questioning, to reflect on why answers differ, and to contemplate what that means for our shared future.
RYAN SAGOTE
Director of Photography
Characters
JONAH
(27, Filipino)
GABRIELA
(27, Mexican)
CORY
(Filipina)
CHRISTIAN
(18, Mexican)
Tone & Style
Contradiction will be the core visual principle for our film. Clashing past with present and the character’s internal feelings with the unyielding demands of their environment to produce tension and alienation. Through this approach, we aim to depict Houston (and Texas at large) as a place that generates both belonging and displacement all at once, with its communities simultaneously fleeing, resisting, and yet still calling this place home.
As We Leave, It Follows intends to visually and tonally emphasize how Texas’ invisible class and social divisions create emotional lapses in trust, belonging, and friendship between everyday people like the characters in the film. Balancing social-realistic sensibilities with sharp yet impactful manipulations of memory and linear time.
Meet the Crew
Director / writer
JHAD VILLENA is a Filipino-American filmmaker with TAMARIND - a diverse collective of directors, cinematographers, and editors from North and Central Texas who have been creating together since the mid-2010s. He is currently developing the narrative short As We Leave, It Follows, which received an Austin Film Society Grant for Short Films in 2024.
Born in New York City to Filipino immigrants before being raised across California and Texas, Jhad works as a freelance documentary photographer and camera assistant in Dallas-Fort Worth. Helping in past years as a jurist for South Dallas’ Oak Cliff Film Festival and as venue and video crew for SXSW, Jhad has also worked as a local and statewide organizer for Malaya Movement USA, International Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, International Migrants Alliance, and other causes throughout Texas.
Jhad’s last films were I Hear You Looking (2019) and Sankofa (2018) - both produced by TAMARIND and selected for Oak Cliff Film Festival exhibitions.
co-writer
JON RAFAEL BIRONDO is a Filipino-American writer, director, and camera assistant based in Dallas-Fort Worth, TX. Having crewed on Killers of the Flower Moon, Reservation Dogs, and Yellowstone, Jon has directed a number of music videos and live performances, as well as produced a number of narrative shorts.
He is currently working on an untitled documentary about Archer City, TX on which he is co-writer & director.
cinematographer
RYAN SAGOTE, a Samoan-Australian cinematographer based in Dallas, TX, brings a distinct vision shaped by his upbringing in Auckland, New Zealand, and formative years in Western Sydney, Australia.
His commercial filmography includes collaborations with notable brands such as Vogue, Dallas Mavericks, Anthropologie, Bud Light, BMW, and 7Eleven. Additionally, Ryan has contributed his expertise to music videos for artists like Erykah Badu, Bobby Sessions, Ka$h Paige, and 4Batzz.
Through his cinematic focus, Ryan aims to spotlight the human spirit, emphasizing themes of beauty, diversity, and interconnectedness, drawing from his rich cultural background and vision.
producer
THOMAS FARMER is a Texas-based producer focusing on creating works that connect. Thomas has produced short films, music videos, documentaries, and commercials in projects around the U.S. He is driven to facilitating culturally impactful conversations through the entire production process and working with emerging, multicultural to tell their stories.
Thomas has also produced with organizations and brands such as Dallas Cowboys, AARP, Vanguard, and University of North Texas.
producer
Based out of Dallas, TX, SUNNY PERERA is a producer and director who is driven to find the truth in every frame by telling genuine stories from new perspectives. With an upbringing surrounded by multicultural communities, Sunny aims to share these diverse experiences through his work and with TAMARIND.
In the past, Sunny has worked with commercial brands including Ford, Adidas, Vanguard, AT&T, Toyota and has produced/directed many short films and documentaries of his own. Previous produced short films include Blue Porcelain (dir. Ciara Boniface) and I Hear You Looking (dir. Jhad Villena).
producer
ELLEN ELISE EVANS is a native Houstonian professional with over a decade in theatre, voice acting, and production. Beginning at 104.1 KRBE, she honed her skills in producing and voice-acting for radio ads.
Ellen’s previous projects include the Houston short films PUNKS (dir. Hannia Yeverino), The Garden of Adam (dir. Gerardo Velasquez), and Cass (dir. Sarah Ontiveros).
