Harana (Serenade)

Maya is a cover band singer in a Las Vegas casino-hotel lounge trying to connect with her daughter who is growing up in the Philippines without her. Wrestling between her passion for songwriting and becoming a pop-culture photocopy for an un-listening audience, she realizes that music — the one thing that keeps them distant – can also bring them closer together.

Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, writer-director MARIE JAMORA was named one of the “Five Visionary Asian-American Female Filmmakers” in Kore Magazine’s ‘New Hollywood’ issue. Her short film, FLIP THE RECORD, screened at over thirty festivals worldwide, winning the Grand Jury Award for “Best Narrative Short” at Urbanworld and her first feature, WHAT ISN’T THERE (ANG NAWAWALA), premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. She was executive producer and the director of FAMILY STYLE, an Asian food and pop culture show with Justin Lin’s YOMYOMF and Warner Bros/Stage 13.

Marie began her career directing music videos during the golden age of the Philippine rock scene, where she directed over 45 music videos. After graduating from Columbia University with an MFA in Film, she returned to Manila to direct commercials and television.

In 2016, with a desire to amplify Filipino stories and as a champion of Philippine cinema, Marie founded CINEMA SALA, a screening and workshop series for Filipinx artists in the film and performing arts industries. Cinema Sala has since partnered with Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY, Visual Communications, Outfest, and AFI Fest for their various screenings and events to showcase Filipinx works.

Marie became the first Filipinx director to be accepted into AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, where she wrote and directed HARANA, a proof of concept for her next feature film. Currently, Marie is part of the 2020 class for the Warner Bros. Television Directors’ Workshop and is Adjunct Directing Faculty at the American Film Institute.

Plays in

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