The Philippines dominates the autumn 2023 selection of Bangkok-based film fund Purin Pictures, which will give a combined $140,000 in production grants to five upcoming projects.
The titles from Southeast Asia comprise John Torres’ The Remotes, Rafael Manuel’s Filipinana, Dean Colin Marcial’s Jaguar and documentaries Bariles by Sheryl Rose Andes and Planet Of Love by Ika Wulandari.
“This session, half of all the submissions we received were from the Philippines,” said Purin Pictures co-director Anocha Suwichakornpong. “Because of various local support schemes and a just-do-it mentality, Filipino filmmakers continue to create interesting and varied works.”
The Remotes marks Filipino director Torres’ first fiction film after two decades of making documentaries. Marcial’s Jaguar is described as an urban thriller that straddles the gap between independent and mainstream genre cinema.
Filipinana is expanded from Filipino director Manuel’s award-winning short film of the same name, which recently picked up a hat-trick of awards at the Asian Project Market (APM) in Busan. The producer is Singapore’s Jeremy Chua, whose most recent credits include Vietnamese feature Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, winner of this year’s Camera d’Or at Cannes.
Documentaries Bariles and Planet Of Love explore marginalised livelihoods in the Philippines and Indonesia respectively.
Each fiction project will receive a production grant of $30,000 while Bariles will receive $15,000. Planet Of Love will receive a post-production grant of $35,000.
Purin Pictures autumn 2023 grant recipients
Production grants
The Remotes (Phil)
Dir/Pro John Torres
Prodco Los Otros
Two sisters with superpowers race against time to track a voice that controls human avatars, haunted by the revelation it could be their dead mother.
Filipinana (Phil-Sing-UK)
Dir Rafael Manuel
Pro Jeremy Chua
Prodco Potocol
New tee girl Isabel feels strangely drawn to Doctor Palanca, the president of the exclusive golf and country club where she works.
Jaguar (Phil-US)
Dir Dean Colin Marcial
Pro Bernadette Ann Manlongat, Moira Lang
Prodco Reality MM Studios
Bowie, a lone security guard working the night shift, becomes the sole witness to a murder in his old condominium in the middle of Manila.
Bariles (Phil)
Dir Sheryl Rose Andes
Pro Bryan Kristoffer Brazil
Prodco Manila Montage Inc
When seawater becomes warm, tuna fisherman from a small village in the Philippines have to face life they never could have imagined.
Post-production grant
Planet Of Love (Indo)
Dir Ika Wulandari
Pro John Badalu
Prodco One Take Media
A nanny who works in an orphanage for children with HIV takes care of her stubborn grandson, one of the foster children at the orphanage.
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