LOS ANGELES- In the hills of Eagle Rock, California, the Montesa house was filled with familiar faces working in different departments for Dianthe Montesa’s first short film, which she wrote, directed and edited. The junior film production major brought together LMU friends for a three-day film shoot filled with moments of laughter, singing and dancing, all while watching her vision come to life.
“I didn’t feel tired throughout all three days of the set because I was surrounded by so much love and support,” Montesa reflected.
“Fruitbowl” (2026) is Montesa’s junior thesis about Mila, a Filipina American teenager who meets her estranged grandfather from the Philippines for the first time. The short film underscores the theme of generational division and misunderstandings between Filipino American children and their grandparents. Zoe Velasco ‘29 and actor Rhandy Torres portray characters Mila and Lolo.
Montesa talked about going through many different titles such as “Lolo and Apo” meaning grandfather and grandchild in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines. Another title idea was “Lolo and Basketball” since Mila loves to play. Montesa realized how often a fruit bowl showed up in her script and how it became a recurring motif in the story.
“I created Fruitbowl based on Asian parents giving fruits to their kids as a sign of endearment. It’s a sign of love instead of saying “I love you” verbally.”
Through the creation of “Fruitbowl”, Montesa took the opportunity to tell a unique story that was true to being raised in a Filipino family. She challenged herself to tell a story she did not know much about in real life but only had knowledge of through her friends’ relationships with their own grandparents. She was also inspired by the tight-knit relationship she has with her own family, naming Mila in honor of her aunt who passed away in 2020. Filipino culture is centered around community and being family-oriented, but for some, there is the assimilation into American culture that overlooks it.
She explained Mila as the “typical” teenage girl and a character that everyone may not agree with. She relates Mila’s teen phase to her own and the feelings of loneliness and helplessness she felt at the time. “I think seeing the effort that Lolo tries to make to get to know her, people definitely are gonna be like ‘Why is she like that?’” She said, It was also a challenge to portray that in writing without dialogue by using movement and emotions.
Montesa explains that not using dialogue when Mila and Lolo meet for the first time was challenging because there’s awkwardness to meeting someone who feels like a stranger but is supposed to be familiar. However, there were fun scenes they shot, such as flashback scenes filmed on a camcorder between the young actress who plays young Mila and her onscreen father, Jay Arella. The funniest to film was the martini shot as Mila tries to block Lolo’s snoring out while listening to music, as one of the crew members had to snore to get the full effect. Luckily, everyone held in their laughter as Montesa yelled, “Action!”
Montesa hopes the audience understands the importance of family and appreciates those who have seen you grow the same way her parents, brothers, cousins, titos, titas and friends have supported her. “Fruitbowl” premieres May 11 on campus, and she hopes to bring Mila and Lolo’s story to bigger short film circuits in the future.
