EXCLUSIVE: Award-winning filmmaker Ramona S. Diaz has launched her next project – a feature documentary based on an extraordinary 2017 article in The Atlantic magazine titled “My Family’s Slave.”

The magazine piece, a personal essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino American writer Alex Tizon, recounts the story of Eudocia Tomas Pullido, “an enslaved woman who served [Tizon’s] family ceaselessly for 56 years.”

Diaz (A Thousand Cuts, Imelda, Don’t Stop Believin’) is teaming on the feature with producers Diane Quon (Oscar nominee, Minding the Gap) and Third Culture Content’s Janice Chua. Oscar-nominated filmmaker Lee Daniels serves as an executive producer on the project, alongside Linzee Troubh for The Atlantic, Chris Quintos Cathcart and Tyler Boehm of Unapologetic Projects, and actress Liza Soberano.

The publication of “My Family’s Slave” in the June 2017 issue of The Atlantic triggered a sensation, engaging a legion of readers with a story that almost defied belief. Tizon (1959-2017) wrote that his family’s nickname for the diminutive Eudocia was Lola. “She was 4 foot 11, with mocha-brown skin and almond eyes that I can still see looking into mine – my first memory,” the author recounted. “She was 18 years old when my grandfather gave her to my mother as a gift, and when my family moved to the United States, we brought her with us. No other word but slave encompassed the life she lived.”

In a statement, Diaz commented, “This is the most personal film I’ve ever made. Having been born and raised in the Philippines, I feel this story in my bones. Nearly a decade has passed since The Atlantic first published My Family’s Slave, yet its hold on me remains as powerful as ever. I am eager to dive in and explore the complexity of Lola’s story.”

Quon experienced a similarly profound reaction to Tizon’s piece. “Alex’s story shook me to the core: I understand what it is to love someone so much, but feel like you failed them. The article inspired a much-needed conversation, but it was devastating to know that Alex and Lola were not alive to participate in it. I hope through our film – under the talented direction of Ramona – we will be able to give a voice to Alex and Lola and the entire Tizon family.”

Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) optioned “My Family’s Slave” for a planned fictional adaptation. “What moved me about this story was its rawness, the complicated family dynamics, and the possibility of catharsis and healing by the very act of telling the story,” he said. “I’m looking forward to Ramona and Diane’s film; they’ve put together the perfect team to bring the non-fiction version to the screen.”

“It isn’t simply an extraordinary story,” observed, Janice Chua, co-founder of Third Culture Content (Crazy Rich Asians). “It is one that forces us to confront uncomfortable questions. I feel incredibly honored to be collaborating with Diane and Ramona to bring this story to the screen with the humanity it deserves.”

Diaz says she hopes to complete the documentary in late 2027 and to release it in early 2028.

Executive producers Chris Quintos Cathcart, co-CEO of Unapologetic Projects, and Liza Soberano (DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island), who are both Filipino American, commented on the significance of the project. “When this article went viral, it was one of the few moments when I saw a tiny fraction of my identity represented in mainstream media,” said Cathcart. “I forwarded it to so many of my relatives. We want to be part of getting it out there.” Soberano added, “I wanted to help tell Lola’s story because she deserved to be seen while she was alive, and she deserves to be remembered now.”

The Atlantic’s editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg said of response to the 2017 publication of “My Family’s Slave”: “People value story, great writing, and honest emotion. When we published Alex Tizon’s piece, we were at the beginning of the Trump presidency, and Trump was seemingly the only thing on everyone’s minds. I had no idea that a tragic, very personal story by an esteemed but not particularly well-known writer would connect in such a dramatic way. But we learned that the marketplace still rewards quality.”

The Atlantic, founded in 1857, has expanded into film and television, “adapting deeply reported stories and distinctive worldview for the screen.” Recent credits include the documentary series Shadowland, and Emmy-winning Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power, directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard. The magazine has dozens of scripted and unscripted projects in development. The Atlantic is represented by CAA.

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