EXCLUSIVE: BFI Distribution has picked up by Rafael Manuel’s Sundance prize winner Filipiñana for UK-Ireland distribution, from US’s Magnify, with a release planned for the autumn.
The Sundance World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision prize winner, which also played at Berlin, follows a 17-year-old working at an elite golf club outside Manila in the Philippines, where corruption rumbles beneath the surface.
Cast includes Jorrybell Agoto, Carmen Castellanos, Teroy Guzman, Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, Isabel Sicat and Nour Houshmand.
Producers are Jeremy Chua for Potocol (Singapore), Alex Polunin for Ossian International (UK), Bianca Balbuena and Bradley Liew for Epicmedia (Philippines) and Manuel for Idle Eye Production (Netherlands). Film4 developed and co-financed.
Co-producers are Singapore’s Sam Chua Weishi and France’s Nadia Turince and Omar El Kadi.
The feature grew out of Manuel’s 2020 Berlin Silver Bear-winning short. Filipino Manuel is based between London, Amsterdam and Manila.
“Filipiñana is a triumph of cinematic formalism and narrative tension,” said Caitlin Smith, BFI acting head of acquisitions. ”Harnessing a stunning visual language, evocative sound design and simmering performances, Rafael Manuel has announced himself as a masterful storyteller.”
“Having begun my filmmaking journey in film school in the UK, the BFI has been instrumental in my artistic formation through their various programs that support the development of emerging filmmakers, such as BFI Network,” said filmmaker Manuel. “So, I couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with them in bringing Filipiñana to a broader UK audience – it feels very much like an organic full circle moment to me.”
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