- The Universal Search for Home and Family Resonates in “Lost & Found: A Balitang America Original Documentary”
- “Lost & Found,” the newest addition to the BA Original Documentary collection, airs on TFC on Sunday, March 11, 2018, at 8:00 P.M.
Nikki spent a good part of her childhood in an orphanage, malnourished to the point of losing her life. Four years ago, she weighed only 40 pounds. Now, Nikki has grown to a healthier 80 pounds. Then there is Jomar. That was his name back in the Philippines. After moving to the United States, he now goes by the name Ryder.
There are more children like Nikki and Ryder, orphans who have spent their younger years in shelters or institutions, longing for the love of a family.
Get to know their stories in “Lost & Found,” a BA Original Documentary that presents the journeys of children who were abandoned in their countries of birth, but who have found homes, hope and warmth in a snow-covered community in Bozeman, Montana.
BA Correspondent and “Lost & Found” writer/producer Steve Angeles learned about these communities of adopted Filipinos making their way to places like Montana. Angeles said, “BA’s purpose is to always find unique stories. We’re often exposed to the lives of Filipinos in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and this was a chance to see the lives of Filipinos that are on a unique journey compared to what we are used to.”
Troy Espera, BA Executive Producer, confirms the relevance and attraction of the documentary. “This was definitely a story BA could not pass up. ‘Lost & Found’ gives us an opportunity to explore a community of Filipinos in a place you’d least expect them to be – the Rocky Mountain community of Bozeman, Montana.”
Angeles also adds, “Despite what each child had been through, the love of a stranger had found them, and these kids have found their way into America’s Great Plains where they’re finding their way through life, achieving things that they may not have been able to do if it wasn’t for these everyday people extending their hands.”
Espera believes that “Lost & Found” is more than a Filipino story. It is also an American story. “We meet Americans with huge hearts who open their homes and their families to children from another land who desperately need love and care. During this divisive time in our country’s history, these families embody the values of compassion and community that we often look for in the greater debate around immigration.”
Watch these new Americans as they build new lives with their adopted families, while facing the challenges of adapting to the culture, climate and complexities of the country they now call home.
“Lost & Found” was filmed by Jeremiah Ysip, winner for Best Videographer in the 2017 Northern California Regional Emmy® Awards, and edited by Danny Manansala, who likewise worked on a regional Emmy® winning PSA. “Lost & Found,” the newest addition to the BA Original Documentary collection, airs on TFC on Sunday, March 11, 2018, at 8:00 P.M., with a replay the following Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 4:25 P.M.
