Growing up as a second generation Filipino-Canadian, Aleah Longaphie said while her family maintained cultural traditions at home, she focused on fitting in at school and at work.
“My parents immigrated to Canada in the 1970s,” she said. “When I was growing up, what was important to me was to be like everyone else.”
But as she got older, Longaphie, an AVP Product Group Owner at TD and a member of the TD Filipino Colleague Network, got more curious about her roots and her family’s history.
“I started to wonder: Who am I? What is my identity?” said Longaphie, who is also the community lead with the TD Business Banking Multicultural Network.
Reconnecting with her culture was actually something that happened at the Bank over the course of her 25-year tenure, Longaphie said, as she slowly encountered more colleagues with the same background.
“Through the TD Filipino Colleague Network, I learned about festivals and events that in the past I didn't consider attending and now attend every opportunity I get,” she said. “I also bring my family along and my daughter especially loves joining me at fiestas and festivals over the summer.”
The disconnect Longaphie describes is a common experience for second and third generation Filipino-Canadians, said Michaelangelo Masangkay, the president and co-founder of the Toronto-based Siné Film Fest and the Siné Institute.
A desire to help other Filipino-Canadians find belonging and meaning in their culture is one of the reasons he started the festival and the institute, which showcase Filipino cinema and support emerging filmmakers of Filipino descent.
Masankgay came up with the idea for the film festival over a meal with Paul Saguil, the Executive Chair of the TD Filipino Colleague Network. Saguil then shared the idea with Longaphie, who immediately saw the value in helping Filipino-Canadians rebuild their cultural connections.
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"When I learned about this film festival and met with Masangkay, I definitely thought this was something that I would have loved to have had growing up," Longaphie said.
“I knew right away this would resonate with audiences.”
She was able to obtain funding from TD for the film festival’s inaugural run in 2024 through the TD Ready Commitment, the Bank’s corporate citizenship platform.
In an effort to better support the communities TD serves, TD encourages organizations like the Siné Insititute that are working to support positive change apply for funding.
In April 2025, the Bank supported the film festival again and dozens of TD volunteers signed up to help run it.
Deepening cultural connections
Masangkay was born in Toronto to Filipino parents and didn’t grow up feeling particularly connected to his culture. But he does remember seeing movie posters on the walls at Filipino corner stores and feeling intrigued.
“I didn't really have access to the Filipino culture, and so it was really hard to really associate with the community,” he said of his upbringing.
Masangkay, who is a director of production at the Toronto Film School, said he struggled with his sense of self. Sometimes he felt like an outsider in both Canada and the Philippines.
“Here, you’re visibly foreign, but you go to the Philippines, and you feel even more foreign,” he said.
Cinematic storytelling is one way to connect Filipino-Canadians to their heritage, he said, and it’s also a way to unpack subjects that remain taboo in the community.
“Sexual orientation, mental health, the rights to your own body – these were things we just didn’t address as a community,” he said. “If you tried to bring it up, you would probably be dismissed.”
One of the films screened at this year’s festival was Canadian Adobo. The documentary directed by Kent Donguines unpacks the experiences of families who are separated when a parent leaves the Philippines to work overseas and the challenges they face when they reunite.
The festival screened Nurse Unseen, a documentary directed by Michele Josue about the high number of Filipino healthcare professionals working in hospitals across the U.S. The film explores how these healthcare workers were disproportionately harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The festival also screened dramatic films. A fast-paced drama called The Kingdom, imagines an alternate history for the Philippines as though it was never colonized. Sunshine, a film in Tagalog directed by Antoinette Jadaone, follows a young gymnast who finds out she’s pregnant the same week as national tryouts.
“At the festival, we witnessed not only the second and third generation Filipino-Canadians starting to engage in something that was culturally Filipino, but then they would bring their friends who are not Filipino [to the screening],” Masangkay said.
“We’ve seen that engagement more and more.”
These guests feel connected to the broader themes of the films, like immigration, but they're also simply being welcomed into a culture known for how it invites others in, Masangkay said.
Supporting amateur filmmakers
Beyond the film fest, the Siné Institute also gives professional support to aspiring filmmakers of Filipino descent with workshops, mentorship, and master classes in the science and art of film, Masangkay said.
It also runs a 48-hour film competition, which challenges amateur creators to write, shoot, and edit a short film over the course of two days.
“A community that fosters connection and collaboration through film and television will foster the creation of something new each year,” Masangkay said.
The sponsorship of Siné has “lit a spark” within the Filipino community at TD, Longaphie said. When she started at the Bank 25 years ago, she didn’t know any other Filipino colleagues.
But when colleagues heard about the film festival and how it needed volunteers, they jumped at the opportunity, she said.
“We put out a call for volunteers and as soon as we’d posted the description, we had 25 TD colleagues volunteer,” Longaphie said.
“And then at the event, I saw TD colleagues everywhere. I didn’t know there were so many people within our organization that were happy and excited to dedicate their entire weekend to the festival. It made me feel proud.”
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