Advertisement
Director Rafael Manuel’s Filipiñana has received its share of critical acclaim, and this weekend it expands its theatrical reach. An evocative and visually immersive exploration of a Filipina’s (Jorybell Agoto) experiences at a country club, this Philippines set narrative locked me in from the jump. Manuel talked to Deepest Dream about his feature and he explains why “emotional clarity” is an integral part of his filmmaking aesthetic.
Read more: Rafael Manuel Talks “Emotional Clarity” of Filipiñana and Crafting A “Cinema of Resistance”
Filipiñana centers on Isabel (Jorybell Agoto), a 17-year-old who works at a country club outside Manila. Whether its lining up golf balls or scooping them out of the water, Isabel and her fellow co-workers have an understandably hard time working out in the baking sun. They also have to deal with the tourists and club members who may take advantage of their social status, leaving these women as second class citizens on the grounds that they keep immaculate.
Isabel’s main journey is to return a golf club to Dr. Palanca (Teroy Guzman), the head of the premises. A secondary storyline centers on a club member’s (Carlitos Siguion-Reyna) attempts to get his niece (Carmen Castellanos) to stay in the Philippines and help with the family business.
Don’t expect a plot heavy narrative with Filipiñana since it refreshingly traverses another direction. “I really believe that emotional clarity should take precedence over narrative clarity because it’s less propagandistic,” said Rafael Manuel. “With emotional clarity, you’re giving autonmy to an audience to feel how it is they want to feel because then an image can invoke a totally different response from another person. For me, this is very much a cinema of resistance.”
The film is also a cinema of discovery thanks to the nuanced performance of Jorrybell Agoto.
“She’s so amazing,” said Manuel. “One of my favorites is Giulietta Masina, the wife of Federico Fellini. I think there’s a lot of similarities between Giulietta and Jorybell in the playfulness and even in the facial structure and the expression. What drew me towards Jorybell is (she’s) like a silent presence that grows – and (her) playfulness, obviously. I see so much depth and meaning, like an underground reservoir of meaning in her eyes. This is super important with the kind of cinema (that) I want to do, where the acting is very minimalistic because you leave space for freedom for the audience.”
Rounding out the ensemble are Nour Hooshmand, Isabel Sicat, Micah Musa, Elle Velasco, and Angeli Bayani.
Filipiñana hits Los Angeles and additional cities on September 4th. Tonight he will be doing a post-screening Q&A at the Laemmle Noho 7. He will also be part of a Q&A on September 4 and September 8 at the Laemmle Glendale.
Full interview:
***We receive a slight commission when you use our Amazon SiteStripe and affiliate links for your purchases. Thanks for your support!
***I give away Blu-ray or Digital code each week to members of our CinemAddicts Movie Club. Join our Facebook Group and become part of our community. Any questions please email me at editor@deepestdream.com.
***We review Filipiñana, Coyote vs. Acme, and Buddy on the latest CinemAddicts:
