4 Filipino filmmakers at Sundance 2024

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By GAY ACE DOMINGO

The Philippines is represented at this year’s edition of the Sundance Film Festival held in Utah.

Dubbed as the largest independent film festival founded by actor-director Robert Redford, Sundance aims to create a path for innovative filmmakers outside the studio system. The festival takes its name from Mr. Redford’s character in the western classic, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”

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Four Pinoys will have a shot at showcasing their edgy works as the Sundance Film Festival happens from January 18 to 28, 2024.

Leading the list is documentarist Ramona S. Diaz. Her latest project, “And So It Begins” – about the 2022 presidential elections – will make its world premiere at Sundance. Ramona is noted for being the filmmaker behind “Imelda” about former First Lady Imelda Marcos, “A Thousand Cuts” about Rappler founder and Nobel Prize winner Maria Ressa, and “Don’t Stop Believing” about Journey’s Filipino vocalist Arnel Pineda, among many other fascinating docus.

“And So It Begins”

Meanwhile, three filmmakers of Filipino heritage – Carlos A.F. Lopez, Alexandra Qin and Whammy Alcazaren – have works included in the Sundance short film program. Sundance Film Festival shorts programmer Irene Suico Soriano is very proud of the Pinoys’ talent and brave voices. In a statement sent to Malaya Business Insight, Irene said, “I found myself enthralled by the variety of themes explored in this year’s Filipino short films…. Each of these shorts delves into subject matters that are not typically discussed at the family table.”

Take the case of Carlos A.F. Lopez’s “Dream Creep.” The 12-minute supernatural horror comedy centers on a couple whose sleep is disturbed by sounds coming from an ear hole. In an interview for the Sundance festival, Carlos explained the reason for his choice of genre, “I love horror for its ability to give shape and form to these indefinable fears and feelings that you carry while being able to explore challenging ideas, and offer catharsis and clarity to the real horrors of the world.”

The Seattle native describes himself as a “first-generation Washingtonian born to a Filipino mother and Mexican father.” His heritage inevitably finds its way to his art. As Carlos explains, “Cultural influence is imbued throughout (my) work in nuanced ways that subvert what it means to be an artist of color in the independent film community.”

“Thirstygirl”

Alexandra Qin’s “Thirstygirl” is a more personal tale. In the 10-minute drama, the French-Filipino-Chinese writer-director depicts a sensitive subject in a compassionate way. “It is an intimate story about sex addiction and sisterhood, following two mixed-race Asian-American women traveling across the American South,” Alexandra said about “Thirstygirl” in a video for the Sundance film fest.

She also revealed, “I’m a recovering sex addict that’s why I made this film. I wanted to make something that would have made me feel less alone back when I was hitting bottom.”

Just as gutsy is Whammy Alcazaren’s sex dramedy “Bold Eagle” which is about the Internet and politics. The Sundance Film Festival marks another high point in the journey of this QCinema 2022 Best Short Film that has already gone to New York, San Diego, Jakarta, Melbourne, Seoul, Beijing, London and other film festivals in cities around the world.

“Bold Eagle”

Whammy, who was born and raised in Manila, is an award-winning filmmaker and production designer. His “Bold Eagle”, a story of a young man trying to cope with the COVID-19 lockdown to cope through online sex, is a social and political commentary. Whammy says in his director’s statement, “The overacting narrative of the film as well is a slight parody of the created journey of the newly erected president of the Philippines. It is a camp reimagining of a man’s quest to live up to his father’s aspirations, only to end with a beach trip to Hawaii.”

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sundance’s new festival director Eugene Hernandez disclosed that there was a “beautiful rush of submissions – more than 17,000 this year.” That four films by Filipinos made it to the Sundance Film Festival’s official lineup is certainly a feat to be celebrated.

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