An Ilocana overseas Filipino worker, who starred in the Metro Manila Film Festival’s Best Picture “Sunday Beauty Queen,” thanked Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee R. Marcos for supporting the movie.
Hazel Perdido, a 33-year-old single mom from Paoay, Ilocos Norte, narrated her successes and struggles in the docu-film working as a domestic helper in Hong Kong.
“I thank Governor Imee for the chance to promote our movie,” Perdido shared in a television interview.
Perdido’s will to provide for her family led her to leave her three children, including her one-year-old son, with her mother. Instead of pursuing jobs related to her degree in Computer Science, she chose to work 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday as a domestic helper.
“I had worked here [in the Philippines] but if you compare it, helpers in Hong Kong really get paid more,” Perdido said.
However, her hard life melts away when she and her fellow OFWs celebrate Sunday, their only dayoff. With festivals and pageantry, OFWs are able to rest from their jobs, paving the way toward the plot of “Sunday Beauty Queen.”
“It warms my heart to be part of the cast of ‘SBQ.’ I didn’t expect they’d include it in the MMFF,” she said.
Directed by Baby Ruth Villarama, “Sunday Beauty Queen” is a documentary about Filipino women throughout Hong Kong, who are connected by their participation in beauty pageants and other festivities held during their common dayoff.
The story revolves around the lives of five women who transform into elegant queens after each week’s confinement and drudgery in their employer’s house.
In the film, their real lives are glimpsed, including Perdido’s scene: a mother watching her daughter’s graduation over her smartphone, while reassuring her daughter that not seeing her on her special day is all for her comfort and future—a bittersweet reality for families who have OFW loved ones.
“My eldest child cried after seeing our movie. I hope this inspires other OFWs that behind our happy pictures is the sacrifice we make for our families,” she said.