'Quezon,' 'Filipiñana' lead shortlist of Philippines' Oscars 2027 entry
MANILA, Philippines — The Film Academy of the Philippines has narrowed down the selection for the country's submission to the 2027 Academy Awards to eight movies.
The films in contention were chosen from local submissions for consideration announced by the Film Academy earlier this year to be the Philippines' official entry to the Best International Feature Film category.
Perhaps the most recognizable of the eight contenders is "Quezon," the third film in Jerrold Tarog's "Bayaniverse" franchise starring Jericho Rosales as the titular second president of the Philippines.
A strong candidate is Rafael Manuel's "Filipiñana," which just recently got its local theatrical run after making the festival rounds, including its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.
The movie, based on Manuel's 2020 short film of the same, follows a young girl trying to figure out why she's drawn to the president of the country club she works at.
Not as fortunate is Carl Joseph Papa's "58th," an animated docu-drama about the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre through the lens of a missing victim's daughter.
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"58th" screened in major festivals like Rotterdam, Annecy, and the Oscar-qualifying Doc Edge but has not yet been greenlit for theatrical run due to possible censorship.
The most recent winner of the Metro Manila Film Festival "I'mPerfect" about a couple with Down syndrome also made the shortlist as did its batchmate "Manila's Finest," set just before the First Quarter Storm.
Hilda Koronel's comeback film "Sisa" by Jun Robles Lana is another contender where the veteran actress portrays a woman believed to be mad and secretly working as a spy for Filipino revolutionaries during the Philippine-American War.
Rounding out the shortlist are Jade Castro's BL Ilocano-language project "All the Things I Leave You (Patawid)" and Lawrence Fajardo's upcoming "Silenced Nights" inspired by 2017 killing of Kian delos Santos during the so-called "war on drugs."
Filmmaker and Film Academy Director-General Paolo Villaluna said in a statement that the new batch of contenders "offer a spectrum of views of the Filipino experience."
"They look at our history, the issues we continue to face, and the ways Filipinos deal with questions of power, identity, love, freedom, and survival," he said. "Each one has its own voice and approach, showcasing our cinematic merit and any of them has the potential to connect with audiences beyond the Philippines."
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Villaluna expressed confidence that the entry the Film Academy submits "will carry a Filipino story that we can be proud of."
The eight movies will undergo a rigorous selection process led by a National Selection Committee organized by the Film Academy composed of local industry experts and approved by Oscars organizers the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The National Selection Committee will evaluate the submissions based on artistic merit, cultural relevance, and international campaign potential.
The Philippines' official entry to the 99th Academy Awards will be announced during the opening ceremony of the Philippine Film Industry Month with the Film Development Council of the Philippines on September 4.
In the entire history of the Academy Awards, no film from the Philippines has been nominated or even made the shortlist for the International Feature Film category.
Past Philippine submissions are the likes of "Dekada '70," "Anak," "Heneral Luna," "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros," "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank," "On the Job: The Missing 8," and "Magellan" which arguably came the closest to making the first cut.
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