Vancouver,B.C.
Filipinx movie ‘Islands’ starts screening today at VIFFat 6:30 PM
Called one of the best Canadian films of the year by the Globe and Mail, ‘Islands’ has an all-Filipino cast with a film debut of by its leading actor , Rogelio Balagtas.
Balagtas, who is from Winnipeg,plays the role of Josua, a shy middle-aged man living with his parents and left to care for an ailing father when his mother died.
This is a debut film role for Balatas as well as Sheila Lotauco, another Winnipegger, playing the role of Mirasol. This also a first for the film’s producer, Toronto’s Martin Edralin.
‘Islands’ has garnered raved reviews and was a prize-winner at SXSW and REEl festival. It was nominated for best film and best actor at the Canadian Scene Awards.
VIFF Press Release
Still living with his aging parents and listing towards his 50th birthday, Joshua (Rogelio Balagtas), a Filipino immigrant in Ontario, prays every night for God to rid him of his shyness. Although things go from bad to worse, the Almighty seemingly answers his petition when his beatific cousin Marisol (Sheila Lotuaco) arrives to offer support. Through her genuine warmth and generous spirit, she slowly transforms Joshua’s house back into a home and incrementally lures the anxious introvert out of his shell.
Seamlessly transitioning to feature filmmaking after a series of acclaimed shorts, Martin Edralin fashions a disarmingly tender, deeply nuanced, and uncommonly intimate character study that achieves an exquisite balance of gentle humour and humane drama. The story mechanics are so delicately calibrated and sense of naturalism so pervasive that we often feel that we’re simply witnessing life unfold onscreen – though it’s also worth pointing out this charming and subtly playful movie also features a couple of simply irresistible dance sequences.
“Island’s gorgeous empathy acts like a soothing and gentle balm for the spirit.” Tilt magazine
“Islands is a feel-good movie that, in an odd way, doesn’t try to make us feel too good. That’s why there’s a little bit of art to it. Rogelio Balagtas has never been an actor before, but his performance is exacting, and touching, in its casual repression. He shows you the prison this man is living in just because of who he is. […] Islands isn’t a downer; it lifts us to a higher place. Yet it does so not merely with empathy but with impressive subtlety.” Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“This story of isolation and aging—of having to take care of your ailing parents while not knowing how to take care of yourself—is a stunning feat of lived-in filmmaking, with shot compositions and confident pacing as organized as furniture in a living room. Filled with the hallmarks of a strong director, it is as emotionally immersive as it is unassuming. [Edralin is] a filmmaker we can trust with our most uncomfortable but honest experiences.” Nick Allen, rogerebert.com
“Islands also contains a soft, oddball charm that elevates it above its domestic trappings and depressing-seeming premise… It envelopes you into its slow drama, creating empathy simply by allowing us to observe […] No man is an island, the possibility of connection still possible no matter how old or withdrawn you might be. Coming at a time when the world has never felt more separated and out of reach, Island’s gorgeous empathy acts like a soothing and gentle balm for the spirit.” Redmond Bacon, Tiltmagazine
There will be a filmmaker Q&A via Zoom on Friday April 15.
Note: Islands (94 minutes) will be preceded by 29-minute documentary Kalinga (Care), by Kent Donguines
At the age of six, director Kent Donguines’s mother left him and his family to become a nanny. In his film Kalinga (Care) Donguines shares the stories of several Filipina caregivers and nannies in Vancouver, bearing witness to their sacrifices as they struggle to reunite with their children and families.