Carl Francis Catedral
Carl Francis Catedral is a documentary filmmaker currently living in Hong Kong. As a Filipino American seeking to understand and combat the injustices associated with migration, he has welcomed the opportunity to work closely with the migrant domestic worker-led organizations he has met since moving to Hong Kong in 2018. He also recently finished his Master of Divinity at Fuller Seminary—a program which has given him more opportunities to reflect on theologies of migration. His newsletter Impermanent Residence is where he writes about his theological reflections and the filmmaking process. His first film is Migrant Women Rise. The documentary follows two migrant leaders who are victims of red-tagging under the Duterte Administration as they defend the rights of their fellow migrants, while navigating the challenges of life far from home. He is also currently working on a new film about a tiny shelter for domestic workers in Hong Kong and the role it plays in empowering a global migrant movement.
Sonia Wong
A gender-studies scholar who teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sonia Wong founded Reel Women Hong Kong in 2013 to support gender awareness through film, showcasing work by female filmmakers. In 2018, she co-founded the Women’s Festival, whose programme focuses on current topics as seen through the female point of view, which held its fourth edition earlier this year. She contributes to a variety of community initiatives and sits on committees for the migrant-worker solidarity outfit One Billion Rising Hong Kong, Gay Games Hong Kong, the migrant women’s crisis shelter Bethune House, and Migrants’ Pride. She was awarded the Happy Homes Award 2021 from the Mission for Migrant Workers, and is also a writer, poet, curator and visual artist who dreams of the day she can retire from advocacy work and teaching gender studies because it’s no longer needed.
