SONY PICTURES Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA), the acquisition arm of Sony Pictures Entertainment, has announced that they have bought worldwide rights (excluding the Philippines) of Fil-Am director Diane Paragas’ debut feature, Yellow Rose.

The film tells the story of a Filipino teen from a small Texas town who fights to pursue her dreams as a country music performer while facing the threat of deportation.

The film stars two-time Tony Award Nominee Eve Noblezada in her feature film debut, Tony Award Winner Lea Salonga, Princess Punzalan, Dale Watson, Gustavo Gomez, Libby Villari, and Liam Booth.

“Yellow Rose has been a labor of passion for over 15 years and I’m thrilled that we can now share this very relevant story with the world,” Ms. Paragas said in a press release.

“We have the added honor of representing the real experiences of Filipino-Americans, Asian-Americans, and all immigrants seeking a better life in America,” she added.

The film was produced with the help of a seed grant from ABS-CBN’s Cinematografo Originals program which provides co-production financing for select film projects (both narrative and documentary which “aims to foster, mentor, nurture new filmmaking talent from the Filipino diaspora,” its website said.

Yellow Rose features original songs developed for the film, written and composed by Mr. Watson, Ms. Paragas, Ms. Noblezada, and Thia Megia. The film is written by Ms. Paragas, Annie Howell, and Celena Cipriaso, based on a story written by Paragas and Andy Bienen.

The film premiered at this year’s Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival where it received the Grand Jury Award and the Breakout Performance Award for Ms. Noblezada’s outstanding performance.

Yellow Rose will be distributed in theaters in the Philippines by ABS-CBN. — ZBC

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