Filipiñana

Singapore/United Kingdom/Philippines/France/Netherlands2026100 minFilipino, English, Ilokano

Tee girl Isabel feels strangely drawn to Dr. Palanca, the president of the country club where she works. However, after piecing together a violent picture of what lies beneath the club’s pristine surface, she realizes that what began as an innocent infatuation is actually rooted in a sinister shared history.

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Displaying an extraordinary command of his surreal and unnerving visual language, first-time filmmaker Rafael Manuel adapts his award-winning 2020 short film of the same name to chilling effect. Manuel plumbs the depths of Filipino identity and national consciousness to uncover ominous fragments and cracks that defy picture-perfect unity. Through a stylized, colorful approach lensed with care and precision by cinematographer Xenia Patricia, Manuel takes us into a world where violence and control are exerted with the subtle flick of a wrist or tip of a hat. Painting a scathing portrait of class disparities and post-colonial power structures in ways that are both quiet and unsettling, Filipiñana announces the arrival of an accomplished writer-director who unflinchingly confronts his country’s past, present, and future. — AS

Available in person. Also available online for the public (January 29–February 1) and credentialed press and industry (January 28–February 1).

World Cinema Dramatic CompetitionAll FeaturesFirst-Time FeaturesInternationalDramaFictionEnglish SDH SubtitlesEnglish SubtitlesOpen CaptionU.S. Only- less

Credits

Director(s)
Rafael Manuel
Screenwriter
Rafael Manuel
Producer
Jeremy Chua
Alex Polunin
Bianca Balbuena
Bradley Liew
Nadia Turincev
Omar El Kadi
Rafael Manuel
Co-Producers
Sam Chua Weishi
Executive Producers
Farhana Bhula
Anthony C. Isais
Grace Mariel M. Isais
Maria Sophia Atayde-Marudo
Jossette C. Atayde
Sebastian Raeuber
Francine Raeuber
Cinematographer
Xenia Patricia
Production Design
Tatjana Fanny Honegger
Costume Designer
Carla Villanueva
Tatjana Fanny Honegger
Sound
Vincent Villa
Editor
Rafael Manuel
Post-Production Supervisor
Eugene Seah
Color Grading
Vlad Barin
Principal Cast
Jorrybell Agoto
Carmen Castellanos
Teroy Guzman
Carlitos Siguion-Reyna
Isabel Sicat
Nour Houshmand

Company
MAGNIFY
Website
https://magnify-films.com/
Contact
Austin Kennedy
akennedy@magpictures.com
9175148407

Meet the Artist

Rafael Manuel

Based in between London, Amsterdam, and Manila. Rafael Manuel’s short films have won a Silver Bear at the Berlinale, have screened at Locarno and Rotterdam, and are exhibited by ARTE and the Criterion Collection. He was the last Film Protégé at the Rolex Perpetual Arts Initiative. Filipiñana is Manuel’s debut feature film.

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