Migrants on the Midway

Unlimited International Partner Awards - EOI Application

Director Xenia Glen’s Past Work

ALO

Alo, an undocumented overseas Filipino worker, is struck by a latent seizure which jeopardises his status in the UK.

Alo is based on a combination of Xenia’s lived-experience of disability, and of her experience of living with her Uncle Alo and other Filipinos, some of whom experienced deportation after a house raid by Home Office immigration officers. Venus (Migrants on the Midway documentary contributor and Xenia’s mother) acts in the film.

Supported by the BFI Network
World Premiere BFI London Film Festival 2023
Sundance Film Festival: London 2024
Next screening: ‘DISPATCHES To & From the Diaspora’ showcase in Los Angeles audiences for Filipino/x American History Month

Produced by Sleepwalker. Released in 2023.

MY FILIPINO

A documentary that excavates layers of memory to unearth the truth at the core of a group of exploited overseas Filipino workers.

Venus and Laura (Migrants on the Midway documentary contributors) act in the film’s dramatic recreations. Venus was also the Filipino to British translator on the film set and during post-production.

London Short Film Festival 2023

Produced by the BAFTA-nominated and EMMY winning production company Misfits Entertainment. Released in 2023.

BACKBONE

A disabled Filipina teenager living in the English countryside struggles to hide her scoliosis brace in an attempt to appear 'normal' to her new White British friends.

This was Xenia’s first scripted film and was made during the pandemic under precarious circumstances. The film is directly based on Xenia’s experience of scoliosis, with her mother Venus (Migrants on the Midway documentary contributor) acting as herself. Therefore, while the film is scripted, it blurs the line between narrative and documentary filmmaking.

Supported by BBC Arts and Arts Council England.
Broadcast nationally on BBC3 and on BBC iPlayer.

Produced by Sleepwalker. Released in 2021.

SEW

A seamstress recalls how she moved from the Philippines to the UK in the 1980s through marriage.

This was Xenia’s first film as a director and was made during the pandemic under precarious circumstances. The film is about Xenia’s mother, Venus (Migrants on the Midway documentary contributor), who speaks of her complicated experiences around the Philippines’ Anti-Mail-Order Spouse Act. Inspired by making this film, Xenia is in development on ROOT, a scripted feature film that explores wider issues around the Anti-Mail-Order Spouse Act.

Supported by the Talkies and the Other Brother Studios.

Produced by Sleepwalker. Released in 2021.

THE MEMORY BOOM

An experimental feature that recreates the experiences of dementia through an immersive blend of spoken word, documentary, dramatic reconstruction, and never-before-seen decayed archive footage.

This is Xenia’s first feature film as a director. Venus (Migrants on the Midway documentary contributor), speaks of her experience working in British hospitals with dementia-patients, sharing her regrets about being unable to help her dementia-affected father in the Philippines, who passed away during the making of this film.

Upcoming premiere at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in the Rebels with a Cause competition.

Produced by Sleepwalker. Released in 2024.