The trailer for Director Rafael Manuel’s debut Filipinana, was released and sets the date August 28th for it’s theatrical release in New York. The trailer opens up with a golf course in the Philippines, which is the main stage for this film. After the pan shot of the golf course we get a look at Jorrybell Agoto (When This Is All Over) as Isabel, a teenager who is a worker on the golf course. Through the trailer we see how Isabel navigates through the work place of the golf course, learning that there is a different side to what is on the surface.
In an Q&A with Manuel for the Sundance Festival premiere of the movie, he states, “Golf in the Philippines has a very special relationship I think.” He follows with, “The first golf courses in the Philippines were actually on American military bases, so there’s very much a colonial aspect to it. And then when the Americans left, the ruling elite kind of took over the golf courses and made them their spaces. So these are very much spaces of power, and that was only exacerbated during COVID, because golf was the only sport that was allowed. So the sport grew immensely during COVID, and it’s really popular in the Philippines. So for me, it just made so much sense as a metaphor for my country.”
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