The Letters That Became a Film: All the Things I Leave You showing at the Be Reel Film Festival

There are stories that entertain you for a couple of hours… and then there are stories that stay with you long after the credits roll.

This year’s Be Reel Child and Youth Film Festival is proud to present one of the most emotionally rich and culturally significant projects in the festival lineup: All the Things I Leave You, an Ilokano-language film series created by Maui-born storyteller and producer Lance Collins.

The six-part series will screen across two nights during the festival, with Parts 1–3 showing on Friday, May 22, and the concluding Parts 4–6 screening on Sunday, May 24. Together, the films weave a moving story of memory, migration, family, love, and the invisible threads connecting generations across Hawaii and the Philippines.

For Collins, this project has been more than fifteen years in the making.

“I wrote the original script in 2011,” he shared. “After multiple obstacles, I dropped the project around 2018. But when we moved the Filipino parts of My Partner from Ilokano to Tagalog, I vowed to see this project, entirely in Ilokano, to completion.”

At the heart of All the Things I Leave You is a young man mourning the loss of his grandfather when he discovers a forgotten collection of letters that begin to unravel hidden family histories. The story explores how silence, sacrifice, and love echo through generations — especially within immigrant families shaped by plantation-era labor and migration.

What makes the project even more personal is where it all began.

Collins explains that his grandfather once handed him a box filled with old love letters exchanged between his grandparents during a summer apart. At the same time, Collins was researching the impact of Hawaii migration on families in Ilocos. Those real-life stories and experiences slowly evolved into the emotional backbone of the series.

For many Maui families, especially within Hawaii’s Filipino community, the themes in the film will feel deeply familiar.

“It would be wonderful for audiences to get better insight into the context in which their ancestors came over as sugar workers,” Collins said, “and to think about how Hawaii-Ilocos migration impacted their relatives back home.”

One of the most groundbreaking aspects of the series is its use of the Ilokano language itself. While millions of people speak Ilokano around the world, the language is often overshadowed in mainstream Philippine media by Tagalog. Collins intentionally chose to tell this story entirely in Ilokano, with English subtitles, to help preserve and elevate a language and culture that are too often marginalized.

“The lack of Ilokano use in popular culture contributes to cognitive inequity for children whose first language is Ilokano,” he explained.

And audiences are clearly responding.

The trailer for All the Things I Leave You reached millions of viewers online, drawing attention from both Filipino audiences and fans of emotionally driven international storytelling. Collins says viewers are connected to the rarity of seeing authentic Ilokano stories presented on screen — especially in a genre that blends romance, family history, and working-class struggles with such honesty.

Despite being deeply rooted in Hawaii and Ilocos history, the series has also resonated globally.

“We’ve had very strong interest and reception in the Global South,” Collins shared. “Working-class struggles are something that have universal appeal and resonance.”

The project also reflects the collaborative magic of filmmaking. Collins credits director Jade Castro and producers Alem Ang and Kristine De Leon for helping bring the vision fully to life.

For young filmmakers attending Be Reel this year, Collins hopes the series inspires them to tell stories rooted in their own lived experiences rather than trying to imitate mainstream Hollywood formulas.

“It is not necessary to fit our experiences into the templates of American cinema,” he said. “Try to tell stories your friends and family would believe actually happened.”

Perhaps the most meaningful part of this journey for Collins is having the opportunity to screen the series here on Maui — where so much of the story’s emotional and historical roots began.

“I wish I had the opportunity to see films like All the Things I Leave You at the Iao Theater when I was a teenager,” he reflected. “I’m no longer a teenager, but I still think it’s wonderful.”

Audiences can experience All the Things I Leave You during the Be Reel Child and Youth Film Festival on May 22 and May 24. For tickets, schedules, and festival information, visit Be Reel Film Festival.