Blazer, RIFAI DETROIT x NABEELA NAJJAR. and ants, NABEELA NAJJAR. Bangles, necklace and rings, VIEA JEWELRY. Photo by MESGANA BERHANE, styled by DOMINIQUE LACEA
From Cebu to Detroit and hopefully back home soon, Emmy award winning director and producer Eden Sabolboro shares the importance of telling your own story.
From miles away through a computer screen, director and producer Eden Sabolboro radiates vibrant energy as she shares stories about her life, early morning hours be damned. “I had this bratty birthday recently, and the next day, I threw my back out,” she recalls, laughing. “All my friends had Katinko and Eficascent Oil in their bags. Forget fancy colognes.” It’s a glimpse into the unpretentious humor of a woman who has never been afraid to embrace the chaos of life. Behind the laughter lies a director and producer deeply committed to intentional, thoughtful storytelling.
The 35-year old filmmaker, who is a co-founder of Reel Clever Films, a digital storytelling company, is committed to elevating underrepresented voices. With each project, she asks herself, “Am I the person to tell this story? Who is the story for? Who is the story about?” For her, it’s never about creating a ‘cool’ story; it’s about honoring and respecting the people whose stories she brings to life. This mission brought the Cebuano filmmaker global recognition, including an Emmy for her documentary Senghor Reid: Make Way for Tomorrow.
The seeds for the soon-to-be Emmy-award winning documentarist were planted in her hometown in Urgello, Cebu, where she created the blog Chic in The Tropics. Here, she documented her life: photos from a random weekend, her gift recommendations, her style favorites. The blog, which was last updated in 2016 (but has since moved on to a Facebook page,) is a time capsule of the blogging phenomenon of the early 2010s, with Sabolboro sporting chevron patterns, lace-up wedges, and bandage skirts.
While in Cebu, the young artist frolicked along the streets of Lahug, studying Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines-Cebu. She hung around the now closed art scene Mecca Kukuk’s Nest, and acted in films with her fellow budding local filmmakers. “Even though Cebu feels so fast-paced now, it will always be home, it’s where I became me,” she says.
Now, Sabolboro lives in Detroit, having migrated to the US in 2014. “It almost feels like a completely different person, pre-Cebu Eden and post-Cebu Eden,” she says. “I feel like I escaped a cage when I got my citizenship in 2020.” Arriving in the United States as a young wife and mother, Sabolboro was forced to confront a complex question: “Who are you in this new place?”
As a woman of color, particularly as a Filipino immigrant, she often finds herself navigating spaces where her presence is rare. “You are always in these spaces where you may be the only one, and it’s like miles and miles of people who don’t look like you or think like you,” she admits. As a director and producer, the weight of responsibility is heavy. “When you’re a director and producer, people are always looking to you, and it’s hard because it feels like you can’t make mistakes.” But Sabolboro has made it her mission to create a set where people feel heard and valued. “I always try to cultivate an inclusive set where people don’t feel like they’re walking on eggshells,” she explains, talking about her core team with such awe and respect which, is sure to be mutually reciprocated.
Her work is also informed by the pressure to represent her Filipino heritage authentically. “There’s always that pressure to be excellent, to be acknowledged in this world,” she says. “Everything you do is never enough, and it ties back to the immigrant Filipino experience and how we were brought up.” Yet Sabolboro doesn’t shy away from these challenges. She embraces them, channeling her experiences into stories that push back against stereotypes and uplift marginalized voices.
She has also made it a point to give back. “We’re dreaming of a sustainable fellowship for young women filmmakers, not just handing out spare funds,” she shares. “It’s about creating long-term tools: teaching people how to fish, not just giving them a rod.”
The documentary Senghor Reid: Make Way for Tomorrow, which was the 2024 winner for the Cultural Documentary Category for the Michigan chapter of the Emmy awards, exemplifies this dedication to nuanced, authentic narratives. “For me, it’s always about exploring the human connection in ways that haven’t been broadly represented,” she says. It’s this attention to the individual that informs all of her work, pushing her to create stories that are as deeply personal as they are universal.
Despite her success, Sabolboro remains grounded by the same struggles that many creatives face. “Historically, I wouldn’t apply to open calls or fellowships because in my mind, I had already rejected myself,” she admits. Imposter syndrome, she says, is a constant companion. “You are always in these spaces where you may be the only one, and it’s like miles and miles of people, you’re like, ‘I’m not really seeing anyone that looks like me, or is like me.’”
But rather than letting self-doubt stop her, Sabolboro pushes through. “Go with your heart and intention, and trust that you belong where you are,” she says. “You have to remind yourself that it’s okay to make mistakes, and you don’t have to carry the weight of perfection alone.”
Now, Sabolboro is gearing up for another productive and creative year, and teased a new documentary about Filipino-American musicians in the pipeline. “Filmmaking is a way of reclaiming and redefining what it means to be a storyteller. I reunited with myself, and it’s the best feeling,” she says. “The layers of who I am: Cebuana, immigrant, mother, artist…. they don’t compete, they co-exist.”
Shot on location at Shop Coup D’Etat at The Lantern Detroit, Michigan. Produced and Art Directed by Din Pastrana. Creative Direction by Jeff Newsom. Photos by Mesgana Berhane. Styled by Dominique Lacea. Hair and Makeup by Gabrielle Yanke. Lighting and Photography Assist by Luigi Macairan, Aronjonel Villaflor, Demetrio Nasol and Thaad Sabolboro. Special thanks to Angela Wisniewski-Cobbina and Reel Clever Films.
