Strange Land: My Mother's War Bride Story: A Film by Stephanie J. Castillo

Director's Statement: This documentary is my ninth documentary. My mother Norma was among the first war brides of WWII who were "schooled" to "serve their American husbands". At age 17, she met my father - a Hawaii-born, son of an immigrant -- in Manila during American occupation and married him there. She arrived in Hawaii from the Philippines in 1946 pregnant, a stranger to this land. This tribute to my mom is a tribute to all war brides who left their homelands and their families and their cultures to begin a new life in America with their soldier husbands. My mother became a war bride, not because she fell in love with my father the soldier, but because America had filled her with dreams -- a dream of education and opportunity for her children who were yet to come and a dream to send some of her new riches home to her family as they recovered from the ravages of war. What happened to her dreams? Were they fulfilled? Was her sacrifice worth it? My mother's story is like that of hundreds of thousands of women from some 50 countries who were GI brides from Asia and Europe . During commemorations of WWII, little is said about these brave women and the pain and heartache they felt leaving home for a dream or about the families they helped start in America after the war. My tribute to my mother will be personal and universal, a footnote for the history books. My hope is that other children of war brides will look at their mothers and their sacrifices with greater understanding and appreciation, and that Americans will pay tribute with me to these brave women who came to this strange land determined to make a home for their American-born children to come.

Genre    Military & War
Format    NTSC
Contributor    Norma V. Castillo, Stephanie J. Castillo
Runtime    50 minutes
Number Of Discs    1

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 2.4 ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Stephanie J. Castillo
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC
Run time ‏ : ‎ 50 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ March 25, 2009
Actors ‏ : ‎ Norma V. Castillo
Producers ‏ : ‎ Stephanie J. Castillo
Studio ‏ : ‎ www.olenamedia.com
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00212TYGQ
Writers ‏ : ‎ Stephanie J. Castillo
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1