Meet another winner of the 10×10 contest from Film Independent and HV! Elijah Joshua Pajarillaga is a young filmmaker from Saipan, a small island in the Pacific. He followed his dream to direct movies from those tiny shores all the way to Connecticut, where he is currently studying at Wesleyan University’s College of Film. His upbringing on a tiny island and under the strict (but caring) roof of two Filipino immigrants continues to shape his art.

To date, his films have covered his relationship with his mother (Steps on the Shore), his desperate chase of escape and euphoria (DOSE), and hopeful dreams of “making it” (A Moment). Elijah seeks to use film as a way to communicate things that can’t simply be written—issues that have to be seen, heard, and felt.

Currently, he is set to start production on his thesis film, The Ceremony of Return. The film is a coming-of-age story set in an original fantasy world following a son and his dying father who belong to a group of traveling mages. Together, they embark on a dangerous journey towards a mystical waterfall where they can conduct a ceremony to save the father’s life. Unbeknownst to the son, the ceremony is actually meant to prepare him to assume his father’s role of leadership in the group and bury him.

For more about Elijah and his work, visit his Artist Member page on HV!