HERE TO STAY - RTÉ One, Monday 07 April, 11.35pm
Shot in observational and interactive style, this film follows Fidel, Filipino immigrant to Ireland; nurse, migrant activist and bakla (gay) performer. Fidel leads the viewer through a series of migrant-led events, which together illustrate the political mobilisation of overseas nurses and how trade unionism develops in a rapidly expanding multiracial Irish society.
Through a sustained period of observational filming on the hospital ward, the film depicts Fidel's managerial competence, his working relations with patients, consultants, Irish and overseas nursing staff. Fidel's world outside the hospital environment, his social positioning in the Filipino community, alongside his domestic life in Laytown where he lives with his Irish partner, is further explored, as is the negotiation of his gay identity in public performances such as 'Miss Alternative Philippines' and 'Diva Manila', in which he playfully mixes gay politics with migrant and multicultural issues.
Here to Stay is being broadcast in support of Interculturalism and Anti-Racism Week, (April 7th-14th).
This week is part of the European Year of Intercultural Dialogue (EYID), see ( http://www.interculturaldialogue2008.eu/ ) and is being organised by the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism (NCCRI), see ( http://www.nccri.ie/index.html ).
