Lawrence Fajardo’s film IMBISIBOL, with Brillante Mendoza and Wilson Tieng as executive producers, swept all the major awards at the recent Sinag Maynila Film Festival.
Riding on the crest of rave reviews, the film was then invited to have its International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the prestigious contemporary world cinema showcase last September 10-20, 2015.
The film stars Allen Dizon, Ces Quesada, Bernardo Bernardo, Ricky Davao, JC Santos and JM de Guzman. Director of Photography is Boy Yniguez with script by Herlyn Alegre and John Bedia.
On its 40th year, TIFF is considered as one of the top ten film festivals in the world.
In selecting IMBISIBOL to participate in the event, TIFF senior Programmer Steve Gravestock singled out Fajardo’s award-winning work. “One of the most finely crafted Filipino films in recent memory, Imbisibol is full of moments whose emotional impact is connected to their technical precision,” he said.
Marissa Corpus, Bernardo Bernardo, Dr. Robert Diaz.
Citing a scene featuring Bernardo Bernardo waiting for Ricky Davao, Gravestock said, “. . . you may never see a shot more poignant than the one of Benjie, at Edward’s surprise birthday party, waiting in vain for his lover to show up.”
The well-attended screenings were much-applauded and the lively Q & A that followed, hosted by Gravestock, centered on the thematic concerns of what he describes as “this stark and heart-wrenching film [that]weaves together several narratives about undocumented Filipino workers trying to support themselves and their families back home by taking under-the-counter work in Japan.”
Tremendous support was given by the Filipino-Canadian community to the Filipino contingent composed of executive producer Wilson Tieng, director Law Fajardo, producer Krisma Maclang Fajardo, scriptwriter John Bedia, production manager Kimmy Maclang, and lead actor Bernardo Bernardo.
The group’s brief stay was hosted by Marissa Corpus and family who feted a successful media party at her Scarborough residence and produced Bernardo’s one man show at the Prestige nightclub.
Concerted efforts to spread the word about IMBISIBOL in Toronto were spearheaded by members and officers of the Philippine Press Club of Toronto, Rose Tijam of the Philippine Press Club of Ontario, Beverly Vergel, Joey Abrenilla, Michelle Chermaine Ramos, Froilan Lao, Dr. Robert Diaz, Diana Aguila, Heaven’s Grill, Tito Loo of Filipiniana Newspaper, Judith Gonzales of Pinoy Radio, Ryan Orlanda of Pinoy TV, and Tess Cusipag of Balitang Canada.
