"In Filipiñana, tension often lives inside the image itself: a desiccated pine tree creaks against a bright blue sky; mangos left to rot on the branch. There is beauty here, but also decay. Rafael Manuel's debut feature expands on his 2020 Berlinale-winning short (which is streamable courtesy of The Criterion Channel) to offer an extended yet precise parable about class, memory, and quiet violence in his home country, the Philippines."
"The film follows Isabel (Jorrybell Agoto), a new tee girl, as she acclimates to her surroundings and moves through the club's stratified spaces: dining rooms shared with other laborers, a patio where Chinese tourists eat neat slices of cake, and the greens she is forbidden to lie on. As Isabel circulates, the hierarchies, rituals, and unspoken rules governing the space slowly come into focus. Manuel shoots largely in static, deliberate compositions and long takes."
Filipiñana follows Isabel, a new tee girl, as she navigates a Manila-area golf club's stratified spaces during a scorching summer day. The film stages images of beauty and decay, from a desiccated pine to rotting mangos, to explore class, memory, and quiet violence within a confined microcosm. Isabel moves through shared labor dining rooms, a patio frequented by tourists, and the manicured greens she must avoid, revealing hierarchies, rituals, and unspoken rules. The director uses static compositions, long takes, and precise match cuts to convey repetition and containment. The feature expands a 2020 Berlinale-winning short and will screen at Sundance and the Berlinale.
Read at Filmmaker Magazine
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]