In this electrifying example of the ‘80s Philippine action wave, Interpol agent Ramon Ortega (Death Fight’s Franco Guerrero) returns to Manila after his honeymoon and volunteers to break up a local crime syndicate. After he finds crucial evidence that could implicate a local businessman, henchmen break into Ramon’s house, kill his new bride, and sever his arm. Bereft and filled with self-pity, Ramon eventually pulls himself back together piece by bloody piece, training with the help of his best friend to become a ruthless killing machine—a one-armed executioner bent on vengeance!
Croatia, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, United States 85 minutes
Synopsis
These five shorts spanning five countries are bursting with precarious circumstances and unexpected happenings. Featuring works by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan, Mara Tamkovich, Tara Westwood, Lana Baric, and Pedro Cabeleira.
Lynn leaves her family behind to pursue her luck in the city as a country singer in The Headhunters Daughter(Philippines). In LIVE (Poland), two women journalists attempting to broadcast from protest-filled Mink are targeted by a drone. In Triggered (US) a US Senator faces her greatest challenge when a home invasion takes a shocking turn. An unexpected visit shakes up forty-year-old Željka’s quiet, isolated routine and transports her back into the past in Snow White (Croatia). Marcia, a young single mother, pursues her dream date in By Flavio (Portugal).
Screenings & Events
Virtual Screening
Available to stream Oct 13 @ 12:00pm CT through Oct 23 @ 11:59pm CT for a 48-hour watch window. Available to stream anywhere in the United States.
In a dystopian near-future, government program Plan 75 gently coerces senior citizens to be euthanized to relieve the social and economic burdens of an aging population. When 78-year-old widow Michi (Chieko Baishō) loses her job as a hotel maid, her prospects for a secure future vanish, and she considers the Plan as her only viable option. Plan 75 salesman Hiromu (Hayato Isomura) is unwavering in his belief in the benefits of the program, until it becomes personal. And Maria (Stephanie Arianne) accepts an unsavory job with Plan 75 in order to send money back to the Philippines, where her daughter awaits a life-saving operation. The paths of these three lonely souls intersect as they confront the crushing callousness of a world ready to dispose of those no longer deemed useful. On the surface, a tyranny of bureaucratic kindness pervades every waking moment, as the ancient practice of obasute (abandoning the elderly), enshrined in Japanese myth, casts a long shadow over the future in this uncanny, powerfully understated, and chilling vision.
Japanese with subtitles
Screenings & Events
Media
Film Credits
Eiko Mizuno-Gray, Jason Gray, Frédéric Corvez, Maéva Savinien
Chie Hayakawa
Anne Klotz
Setsuko Shiokawa
Hideho Urata
Chieko Baishō, Hayato Isomura, Yuumi Kawai, Taka Takao, Stefanie Arianne
Masaru Usui
Remi Boubal
Loaded Films Ltd., Urban Factory, Happinet-Phantom Studios, Dongyu Club, Doha Film Institute, WOWOW, Fusee
In this inventive mashup of low-budget ’80s Filipino action thrillers, retired screenwriter Leonor spends her time absent-mindedly puttering around her house. Reminiscing about her glory days, she dusts off an old screenplay—a story of bloody, brotherly revenge—in hopes that she might submit it to a local competition. After she is struck by a falling television and knocked into a coma, Leonor is transported into the world of her unfinished script. Trapped inside her own creation, she embarks on a free-wheeling odyssey to finish the film while still unconscious. Director Martika Ramirez Escobar lends a light touch to the surreal proceedings as her offbeat tale oscillates between old-fashioned shoot-’em-ups and tender, human drama. The result is both a love letter to Filipino action cinema and a winning, metatextual reflection on the creative process and mortality.
212 W Van Buren St., Suite 400
