Leni Robredo campaign docu, Dolly de Leon films to premiere at Sundance 2024
MANILA, Philippines — Two movies starring Dolly de Leon and a documentary about the 2022 presidential campaign of former vice president Leni Robredo are going to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January.
The 40th Sundance Film Festival, which will run from January 18 to 28, released its full line-up of entries for this year's edition where a majority are up for distribution.
Sundance received a record-breaking 17,435 entries, including 4,410 feature-length films — more than half of which came from outside the United States.
Among the 82 feature film entries selected is Nathan Silver's "Between the Temples," where Dolly de Leon stars with Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane, making its world premiere.
"A cantor in a crisis of faith finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher reenters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student," the film's synopsis reads.
Dolly's other film, "Ghostlight," directed by "Cha Cha Real Smooth" filmmaker Kelly O'Sullivan, is also going to have its premiere at the festival.
Starring with de Leon here are the father-daughter duo of Keith Kupferer and Katherine Mallen Kupferer and theater actor Tara Mallen.
"When a construction worker unexpectedly joins a local theater's production of 'Romeo and Juliet,' the drama onstage starts to mirror his own life," goes the synopsis of "Ghostlight."
De Leon is not the only Filipino representative at Sundance 2024 as Ramona Diaz will premiere "And So It Begins," a documentary about the people's movement of Leni Robredo's 2022 presidential campaign. Diaz is the director of the award-winning documentary "A Thousand Cuts," a documentary film about journalist Maria Ressa.
AND SO IT BEGINS
— #Sundance 2024 (@sundancefest) December 6, 2023
Dir. Ramona S. Diaz (@CineDiaz)
Premieres pic.twitter.com/u0if9ilIKQ
"Amid the traditional pomp and circumstance of Filipino elections, a quirky people's movement rises to defend the nation against deepening threats to truth and democracy," the documentary's synopsis reads. "In a collective act of joy as a form of resistance, hope flickers against the backdrop of increasing autocracy."
"And So It Begins" serves as a companion piece to "A Thousand Cuts," which followed journalists during Rodrigo Duterte's presidency. It shows the nationwide efforts of Robredo's supporters clad in pink in the build-up and aftermath of the 2022 national elections.
The documentary has a runtime of 115 minutes and will also be available on the festival's website towards Sundance's end, beginning January 25 for audiences in the United States.
Robredo congratulated Diaz on the documentary being selected for the Sundance Film Festival and expressed hope that "And So It Begins" could be shown in the Philippines by April 2024.
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