Okay, people, this is for real! In case you haven’t heard about it, director Sean Garrity has just released a new film called I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight. It’s a romantic comedy between Simon Friesen (Kristian Jordan) and Iris DelaCruz (Hera Nelam) set in a cold Winnipeg winter. You heard that right! I think it’s safe to say this is the first ever film to feature a Mennonite and a Filipina in the lead roles! It’s about time! (And, yes, this is really really a real film).
I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight is playing in Steinbach at the Keystone Cinema this week, so we took to the streets to ask locals what they’re expecting in a Mennonite-Filipina romance. Here are the top ten things people are predicting to see in a Mennonite-Filipina romance:
10) The couple will be forced to spend their entire winter vacation visiting relatives. “Let’s see now: Cebu or Chihuahua? Where are we going this year?”
9) Iris will try to watch the Pacquiao fight with the Friesens, but Mrs. Friesen will turn it off and say it’s too violent … then make everyone watch Billy Graham instead.
8) Young Mr. Friesen will try to see how schmaunt fat tastes on pancit.
7) The couple will have the world’s largest collection of “Mennonite/Filipino Tupperware”. You never throw away a perfectly good ice cream pail or margarine container!
6) There will likely be a lot of family gathering scenes. Non-stop. And if the couple has children, they won’t be stopping at just five or six themselves. This film will break the record for most money ever spent on extras.
5) Simon and Iris will get into a huge fight over who has the best fried chicken: Jollibee or Chicken Chef!
4) Someone’s probably going to buy more shoes than Imelda Marcos … from the MCC store of course!
3) Iris will offer Simon “halo-halo“, which she’ll describe as “just a mixture of everything.” He’ll respond, “you mean like borscht?”
2) Characters will frequently switch back and forth between their mother tongues and English, frequently inserting Tagalog or Plautdietsch for dramatic effect. Eventually Jack Thiessen will be hired to write the world’s first Plautdietsch-Tagalog Dictionary.
1) Someone’s gonna have to get re-baptized.
Does any of this actually happen in the film? Probably not! Ha ha! You’ll have to see it for yourself!
I Propose We Never See Each Other Again After Tonight plays at the Keystone Cinema in Steinbach October 16 to 22, 2020.
Thanks to Hera Nalam, who plays Iris DelaCruz in the film, for helping out with this list!
(photo credit: Brad Crawford. Kristian Jordan as SIMON, Hera Nalam as IRIS in I PROPOSE WE NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN AFTER TONIGHT)
