Oakland Ilokana Film Premiere

Celebrate Filipino American History Month at OACC! Join us for the premiere of Oakland Ilokana, an intergenerational documentary about legacy, ancestral memory, and the search for connection. Guided by the stories of her aging grandmother—who was one of the first Filipino American children born in Oakland—a filmmaker embarks on a personal journey to understand her lineage and the histories that shaped her family.

Directed by Elenita Makani O’Malley, the film weaves personal narrative with broader themes of displacement, resilience, and cultural inheritance. It explores what it means to remember and carry forward stories that are often left untold.

Oakland Ilokana speaks to universal stories of migration, survival, and the invisible threads that tether us across generations, across place, and across life itself.

This event is presented by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center (OACC) and the East Bay Community Foundation. Production of the film was additionally supported by the City of San Leandro and Balay Kreative.

About the Filmmaker

Elenita Makani O’Malley is a queer Filipina and Irish American storyteller from the Bay Area. With a background in anthropology, museums, and media production, she uses video to tell stories about ancestral memory, cultural inheritance, and the threads that tether us across time and place. 

Elenita holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Georgetown University and a Master of Arts in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University. By day, she works as a science communicator, crafting videos that demystify complex topics about our planet. Her video work has been featured in exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History, the California Academy of Sciences, and more.

Learn more at www.elenitamakani.com or www.instagram.com/elenita.sampaguita.