Chasing Mr. Bautista

There were times when I was mad at Benito Bautista for putting me in awkward situations. "Go ahead, talk to her!" he said to me on a flight to Bicol, the island boasting the most perfect volcano in the world. "Ask her questions." He unpacked his obtrusive digital 8 camera and pointed it at us. Smiling nervously and flush from embarrassment, she had the window seat and I was next to her, unable to speak, just as embarrassed. Dissappointed, Bautista put his camera away. He would get really mad a week later when I resisted the idea of singing with an acoustic guitar at the birthday fiesta of Ramon Magsaysay, then-governor of Zambales, a coastal province north of Manila. Luckily, the fiesta was bigger than we thought and Magsasay was behind dozens of armed guards on a balcony, above the masses, far from my guitar.

But over years of friendship the most important lessons I learned from Bautista was that making ideas come to life, whether an art show in San Francisco, a documentary in the guise of a surf trip or a post-modern psychological thriller, takes a single-pointed focus and success depends on building community. Venturing out on my own creative pursuits, he remains a source of inspiration as the competition I can't keep up with and the mentor who leads by example.

Though it's been years since working with the five-man crew on the Gift of Barong, the 2-3 years of intense involvement led us from conception (my invitation came sitting at the wall, post-surf, at Lindamar Beach in Pacifica) through post-production and the hustling of the film to festivals and screenings as various as Riordan High School and the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and MoMa. The years were a blur of grassroots fundraisers, shows and dinners and parties with producers, musicians and supporters. Benito was at the helm for all of these, able to go from talking business to explaining his vision, all the while cracking jokes and spreading good vibes. Though I rarely see Benito these days, social networking allows me to keep up on the life of this eternally youthful man who never keeps still and never stops working.