Pinoy filmmaker's co-produced movie to premiere at Toronto film fest; gets emerging producer nomination
A movie co-produced by a Filipino filmmaker will have its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), even as he got nominated as an emerging producer for the project.
The Enrique Miguel Baniqued-produced Village Keeper is among 278 titles that will be part of the prestigious festival from Sept. 5 to 15.
Baniqued also got a nod at the Canadian Media Producers Association's 2024 Indiescreen Awards alongside his Guyana-born co-producer Karen Chapman. Chapman is also the director of the movie.
Baniqued is the only Asian producer out of seven nominees for the Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award, which recognizes one's "early filmmaking accomplishments and bright career prospects." The winner will also receive a cash prize of $10,000 (P561,000).
The award is named after the late Canadian producer who co-wrote and produced Bon Cop, Bad Cop, deemed the most popular Canadian film of all time at the box office.
Winners will be announced on Sept. 12 in Nova Scotia during the Atlantic International Film Festival.
According to his profile on IMDb, Baniqued is an alumnus of De La Salle University. Before he moved to Canada in 2020, he spearheaded a "groundbreaking startup."
His filmmaking work has graced the likes of Destination Toronto, the City of Toronto: 2026 FIFA WORLD CUP Toronto, The Canadian Academy, The JUNOS, NHL, UFC, and CBC's Family Feud Canada, as well as various local commercial production companies.
He's also behind the Soul Surfer Podcast, which talks about the environmental battle against a looming coal plant in a serene surf town.
According to the TIFF website, Village Maker is an "emotional and authentic study of a single mother trying to hold herself together."
The story revolves around Jean, "the provider and (over)protector" of her two teen children, Tamika and Tristin. She "begrudgingly lives with her mother in a crowded Lawrence Heights apartment complex."
"Despite the kids learning to become more self-sufficient, Jean’s vision is too clouded by the past to see that they're growing," the logline reads. "She is haunted by violence in both their past and their present, and must help her children cope."
The Villager stars Olunike Adeliyi, Maxine Simpson, Zahra Bentham, and Micah Mensah-Jatoe.