A Home Away From Home with Nix Guirre

Nix Guirre is a filmmaker and creative performer born and raised in the Philippines.

Since immigrating to San Francisco at age 18, she has explored a variety of professions, including organizing hundreds of workers for a historic 61-day labor strike. Through this all, she has always come back to what makes her feel most alive — telling stories through art.

She received her BA degree in Film and TV Production from the University of Southern California in 2015.

In her free time, she makes videos for fun about her partner’s trans journey, her Filipino vegan journey, immigrant experience, and sustainable fashion.

Balay Kreative grant funding will go towards producing the pilot episode of "Open the Lights: Filipino Immigrants in the SoMa", a short docuseries on the living situations of our fellow working class Filipino immigrants in the SoMa.

Many of us come here expecting a much better lifestyle than back home, but then when we get here, we find ourselves in tiny, overcrowded apartments. Our pride also drives us to conceal our hardships from our families we left behind, because to us, what matters most is that we can fill our balikbayan boxes for the holidays, and that our nieces and nephews back home are able to go to college.

"Open the Lights: Filipino Immigrants in the SoMa" showcases the Filipino resilience and ingenuity that help us make San Francisco our home away from home. The pilot episode will be a 5-minute piece on my parents who still live in the Mint Mall apartment. The series will highlight how Filipinos cultivate our own happiness despite being in challenging situations.

- Nix Guirre