{Watch, Read, & Listen} Lingua Franca, Elatsoe, & Birthday

♥ watch, read & listen is a weekly feature where I share and recommend

my current movie, book, music and podcast obsessions every monday. ♥

Watch: Lingua Franca (2020)

Olivia (Isabel Sandoval), an undocumented Filipino transwoman, works as a caregiver to Olga (Lynn Cohen), an elderly Russian woman, in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When Olivia runs out of options to attain legal status in the US, she becomes romantically involved with Alex (Eamon Farren), Olga's adult grandson, in the pursuit of a marriage-based green card.

Directed and written by Isabel Sandoval

Starring: Isabel Sandoval, Lynn Cohen, Eamon Farren

Rep: trans Filipino MC

Please take a minute to consider signing petitions, sending an email and/or donating to help Filipinos #JunkTerrorLaw. This newly implemented law strips Filipinos of their rights to dissent and has already killed activists, and it needs to be repealed immediately. More ways to help from wherever you are can be found on junkterrorbill.carrd.co and parasapinas.carrd.co

Read: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Publication Date: August 25, 2020

Listen: Birthday -- Anne-Marie

Since my birthday is tomorrow, why not a birthday song recommendation for this week?

Friendly reminder that Black lives still matter and that Black Lives Matter protests are still going on around the world -- Continue signing petitions (updated often), donating (if/when you can), protesting safely (protect yourselves), emailing/calling your reps/AG/DA, register to vote/vote-by-mail, and educating yourself and family members. 

Also, consider donating to the Milwaukee Freedom Fund and/or donating directly to Jacob Blake's family fund to help him recover from the paralyzing wounds Kenosha cops caused him. Sign this petition to charge the officer who tried to kill him.

More ways to help support Black people and the BLM movement can be found on BLM's official Linktree. More resources can be found on the sidebar as well. ➔