Imelda Marcos film 'The Kingmaker,' Duterte drug war docu 'Aswang' to have online back-to-back screening during thick of campaign period
Award-winning documentaries about Imelda Marcos, wife of the ousted late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and the Duterte administration's war on drugs will have free online back-to-back screening on Feb. 27 and 28.
The Kingmaker will be screened first, at 8 pm, via Zoom. Aswang will follow the next day, at the same time.
The back-to-back screening comes during the thick of the country's campaign period for the national elections in May. The make-or-break polls will see who will succeed President Rodrigo Duterte, whose infamous war on drugs resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, including innocent ones, according to human rights groups.
Presidential aspirants in the May polls include Bongbong Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator, whose electoral cases before the Commission on Elections have already been junked, save for one more. Duterte's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, is also seeking the vice presidency as Marcos Jr.'s running mate.
The Kingmaker, directed by Lauren Greenfield, gives an extraordinary look into the controversial political career of the former first lady, whose ostentatiously extravagant lifestyle resulted in the coinage of the term "imeldific."
"A journey through the Marcos family's long history of corruption, extravagance and brutality, this documentary tells a cautionary tale of a powerful female leader whose questionable sense of reality divided a nation," its synopsis read.
The Kingmaker has received critical acclaim and has earned numerous nominations for best documentary awards worldwide. It won the audience award for best documentary at the Warsaw International Film Festival in 2019.
Aswang, directed by Alyx Ayn Arumpac, follows a group of people whose lives entwine with the growing violence as Duterte assumed office in 2016 and launched a bloody anti-narcotics campaign that saw the execution of thousands of suspected drug peddlers, users, and small-time criminals.
Aside from international accolades, it won best picture at the 2020 Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards, or FAMAS, the first documentary ever to win the award in 68 years.
It's also the first documentary at the 2021 Gawad Urian Awards to win best film ever in its 44-year history. It also won best director for Arumpac and best cinematography that year.
The Kingmaker and Aswang's back-to-back Zoom screening will be hosted by filmmaker hub North Luzon Cinema Guild Inc., in partnership with Active Vista Center, an institution that runs programs on public advocacy, engagement and communications, and human rights organization Dakila.
As slots are limited, you may sign up here.
