Arjo Atayde, Julia Montes film 'Topakk' for sale at European Film Market

MANILA, Philippines — "Topakk" directed by Richard V. Somes and headlined by Arjo Atayde and Julia Montes has wrapped up shooting and is looking for international distributors at the European Film Market.

The European Film Market is a major annual trade fair held simultaneously with the Berlin International Film Festival or Berlinale for distributors, film buyers, producers, and financiers.

The Filipino film which goes by the international title "Trigger" follows a security guard, played by Atayde, discharged from the military after suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder but finds himself tasked with protecting a young woman (Montes) from a corrupt police death squad.

This is Atayde and Montes' second collaboration together having done the ABS-CBN series "24/7" together which was co-produced by Somes' Strawdog Studio Production, which is also co-producing this new project.

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Starring with Atayde and Montes are Sid Lucero and Kokoy De Santos. Atayde's sister Ria and their mother Sylvia Sanchez are co-producers through the family's Nathan Studios which had also worked on "24/7" as are Wilfredo C. Manalang, Michaelangelo Masangkay, and Fernando Henna through other partner studios.

Somes is best known for his work on "Supremo," "El Peste," and "We Will Not Die Tonight," having also done the production design for several of them as well as for "Ang Panday," "Gagamboy," "Imortal," "The Healing," "On The Job" and the mini-series of the same name.

The Toronto-based studio Raven Banner joined mid-production to also assist in sales work. The studio has several films running at this year's Berlinale including "The Smoke Master," "Desert Shadows," and "Pussycake."

"Topakk" is aiming for a release sometime in the first quarter of 2023, should a distributor indeed pick it up at the European Film Market.

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