‘Filipiñana’ to have PH theatrical run before US rollout
‘Filipiñana’ to have PH theatrical run before US rollout
SINEGANG.ph published this press release by Epicmedia. No staff writer participated in writing this article.
For its homecoming, Sundance-winner Berlinale-starrer Filipiñana will be the closing film of the Cinemalaya Film Festival on August 16 at Shangri-La Plaza Red Carpet Cinemas.
It will then have its limited theatrical run exclusively in SM Cinemas August 26 onwards, via Southeast Asian distributor Abnormal Studios, a subsidiary of Westec Media Limited. Abnormal Studios distributed How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.
For the US counterpart, Kino Lorber, North American Distributor of Oscar winner Mr Nobody Against Putin, has been actively screening Filipiñana by Rafael Manuel, before its theatrical rollout in the US this August 28 which starts at Film Forum New York, then to LA and Canada afterwards.
After winning in San Francisco Film Festival and Independent Film Festival Boston, Kino Lorber has screened the film at Austin Asian American Film Festival, Maine International Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival and will head to Gimli International Film Festival, and Oak Cliffe International Film Festival. Filipiñana is the opening film of Hudson International Film Festival.
The positive buzz from film critics and trade magazines globally have helped push the film. “It’s a gut-punch disguised within a caustic satire, the likes of which you’re unlikely to see replicated this or any other year”, writes Siddhant Adlahka of JoySauce.
Richard Brody of The New Yorker even wrote, "A masterwork. Opens new vistas in the future of cinema."
Screen Daily calls it “stunning and assured debut”.
Other non-US festivals in July and August of Filipiñana under sales agent Magnify (formerly Magnolia Pictures International) are the prestigious Karlovy Vary Film Festival (Czech Republic), New Horizons International Film Festival (Poland) and Melbourne Film Festival (Australia). As for Asia, Filipiñana has also been invited to premiere in China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan towards the end of the year with announcements still held off.
The film stars Jorrybell Agoto, Carmen Castellanos, Teroy Guzman and Carlitos Siguon-Reyna, Isabel Sicat and Nour Hooshmand. It is set at a pristine resort on the outskirts of Manila where a 17-year-old tee-girl Isabel tries to return a mislaid golf club to Dr Palanca, the club president, discovering sinister revelations about her workplace, its elite members, and her own past.
Filipiñana is produced by acclaimed Filipino company Epicmedia, under the wing of Bianca Balbuena & Bradley Liew, with Lunchbox handling its marketing. Epicmedia has produced Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quy (Cannes, Toronto, New York Film Festival), A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery by Lav Diaz (Berlinale), In My Mother’s Skin by Kenneth Dagatan (Sundance) and When The Waves Are Gone by Lav Diaz (Venice).
Film4, a big studio in the UK, serves as the overall main Executive Producer, with Happy Infinite Production & Nathan Studios. Other producers are Potocol (SG), Ossian International (UK), Easy Riders (FR) and Idle Eye Productions (NL).
