“Handog sa Bansa” Screening for Lav Diaz’s “Mula sa Kung ano Ang Noon”

Widely acknowledged for bringing the singular highest honor to Philippine Cinema, “Mula sa Kung ano Ang Noon,” Lav Diaz’s Martial Law epic, will have “Handog sa Bansa” special screening on September 21, 2014 at the SM Cinema Centerstage at the SM Mall of Asia.

The special screening, coinciding with the anniversary of the declaration of the Martial Law, is meant to be an offering to the Filipino people (free admission for the public) and will be attended by honored guests. It celebrates the film’s recent triumph at the Festival del Film Locarno 2014 in Switzerland, where it won the Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard) Grand Prize. The International film festival in Locarno, held last August 6-16, is one of the oldest and most prestigious A-list film festivals in Europe, in the league of Cannes, Venice, and Berlin.

Presented by the Film development Council of the Philippines and Sine Olivia Pilipinas, in partnership with SM Cinema, the special screening is, additionally highlighted by a photo and video exhibit outside Centerstage. A short program with the cast and crew precedes the film screening at 2:30pm.

The film tackles life in the village in one of the remotest regions of the Philippines before Martial Law was declared.

Diaz in an earlier interview with the FDCP entices Filipinos to see the film, “[as] it talks about what happened in the last two years before martial law. It’s based on real events. The characters are based on real characters in our village when I was in grade six up to first year high school. I reenacted everything from memory. But it’s about the coming, it’s a foreboding thing, it’s a horror film actually. We’re entering hell and we felt that then.”

In Locarno, the film also garnered the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize; the International Federation of Film Societies Don Quixote prize, the Youth Jury Environment Is Quality of Life Prize, and the Boccalino de Oro Independent Critics Award for Best Actress for lead Hazel Orencio.

The photo and video exhibit will chronicle the journey of the film’s cast and crew, from the film’s inception and pre-production stages up until the win at Locarno and the triumphant return to the Philippines. The public can view the exhibit as early as in the days leading up to the September 21 event.

For more screening information and updates, please visit the “Mula Sa Kung ano Ang Noon” Facebook page, FDCP Facebook page, and FDCP website (fdcp.ph). Treats and prizes await lucky film viewers.