The Debut (2000)

Filipino-American high school student Ben (Dante Mercado) works in a comic book shop to earn money to pay his way into Cal Arts. His father, a postman, is determined that his son–who has won a pre-med scholarship to UCLA–will become a doctor. The eighteenth birthday party of Ben’s sister, Rose, sets off a comedic and touching series of events and family struggles that will in turn determine young Ben’s future. This fresh independent production from Gene Cajayon presents a lighthearted and warm coming-of-age tale filtered through the eyes of an American subculture rarely seen on film.