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rockysds wrote:Amazon pre-order up for Raya Martin's Independencia. July 28th

zedz wrote:Is this the first Martin feature available in an English-friendly edition?

2009 Cannes Film Festival: Official Selection - Un Certain Regard
2009 Bangkok International Film Festival: Winner: Golden Kinnaree Award
2009 Bangkok International Film Festival: Winner: Raya Martin, Netpac Award
2009 Valdivia International Film Festival: Winner: Critics Prize + Special Jury Award

The alternate-history fable INDEPENDENCIA from acclaimed Filipino director Raya Martin re-imagines his country's history as an elemental humanist epic.

Fleeing the American invasion of the Philippines in the early 20th Century, a mother and her son retreat into the jungle. One day, the son discovers a wounded woman and decides to bring her home. They have a child. Years pass. The family live in isolation from the growing chaos all over the country. But a coming storm soon threatens their existence, and American troops draw nearer...

Raya Martin is one of the most prolific and acclaimed young directors in South East Asia. INDEPENDENCIA creates a lush metaphor that plays with cinematic illusions and the cultural and mythical history of the Philippines. Ingeniously staged on studio sets to evoke the lost period of early and silent cinema, INDEPENDENCIA mixes melodrama with anti-colonial critique to recreate a pivotal moment in Filipino history, and incisively explores the intersection between national history and cinema history.

DVD Special features:

• Presented from a new HD restoration of the film, approved by the director.
• New filmed interview with director Raya Martin, made by the filmmaker.
• ‘Behind the Scenes’ - featurette on the making of INDEPENDENCIA.
• Raya Martin’s short film ‘Life Projections’.
• Exclusive DVD ROM features – original English script PDF + MP3 theme song.
• New and improved English subtitle translation.
• Booklet featuring new essays on the film.

"Even more exquisitely than France's The Artist (2011), Portugal's Tabu (2012), and Spain's Blancanieves (2012), this black and white jewel of the Filipino New Wave harnesses the aesthetics and artifice of silent films and early talkies"