After years in development and production, Black Sheep and EpicMedia’s Motel Acacia finally reaches its homeland. Armed with a brand new cut for its Philippine premiere, Filipino audiences can know experience the thrill and scares this March 11, 2020.
For its first offering this 2020, Black Sheep teams up with EpicMedia to bring on the thrills and scares in Motel Acacia. Set in a snowy, unnamed country in the not-so-distant future, the film is about the titular motel where immigrants take refuge and a bed that’s possessed with a Filipino tree demon exists. Shot on location in Slovenia and the Philippines, the film by award-winning director Bradley Liew stars JC Santos and Agot Isidro along with an international cast.
The film took years in development starting 2016 when it was chosen to become a part of EAVE Ties That Bind Film lab. Motel Acaccia then made it rounds all over the world from film markets at the Berlin International Film Festival and Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival. It was also awarded grants from the Talents Tokyo Masters Support Program for two consecutive years. Motel Acacia has amassed a strong list of International Partners from Singapore (Tier Pictures, Protocol), Thailand (White Light Post), Taiwan (Mandarin Vision), Slovenia (Studio Virc), Berlin (Picture Tree International), United States (XYZ Films, Gravitas Ventures) and the Philippines (Globe Studios) making it Black Sheep’s first international co-production.
Motel Acacia made its world premiere at the 2019 Tokyo International Film Festival where Variety critic Peter Debruge saw it and called the film “genuinely frightening” and highlighting Santos and Isidro as “compelling leads”. The film would spend 2019 traveling in film festivals such as 2019 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival where international audiences got a taste of world-class Filipino filmmaking.
This March 11, Filipino audiences will finally get to experience Motel Acacia in a brand new never-before-seen cut. The film is about JC (Santos), a young Filipino man forced to take over the family business set by his estranged tyrant father (Jan Bijvoet of Netflix’s Peaky Blinders), a lonesome motel in the remote wilderness, providing shelter to illegal immigrants in behalf of the government. JC and fellow Filipino Angeli (Isidro) along with the guests soon discover that Motel Acacia is home to a dark and ancient spirit, which devours men and impregnates women. With food running out and a violent blizzard preventing the guests to leave, a despite fight for survival begins. In an attempt rid himself from his father’s shadow, JC risks losing his own humanity.
Will JC fight the monster or become the monster?
More than just a horror film, filmmaker Bradley Liew believes that his film is an attempt to challenge a younger generation to open up and see that there is “something very wrong with our world.” Much like the new generation of horror films, Motel Acacia aims to excite the new breed of Filipino audiences with a thrilling experience and a message that’s hard to ignore. Liew admits that his passion for film “stems from a generation of children growing up without their parents who financially provide by working overseas.” Utilizing practical special effects and a film set that was built from the ground up, Motel Acacia aims to become an experience that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
More than just a horror film, filmmaker Bradley Liew believes that his film is an attempt to challenge a younger generation to open up and see that there is “something very wrong with our world.” Much like the new generation of horror films, Motel Acacia aims to excite the new breed of Filipino audiences with a thrilling experience and a message that’s hard to ignore. Liew admits that his passion for film “stems from a generation of children growing up without their parents who financially provide by working overseas.” Utilizing practical special effects and a film set that was built from the ground up, Motel Acacia aims to become an experience that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible.
After last year’s romantic drama Open, JC Santos returns as a sheepmate in his first horror film lead. He admits that working with an international team of actors from Thailand, Indonesia, and Australia helped him open up to different styles and techniques in acting. Agot Isidro returns to the big screen playing a mother who is ready to fight for her children back in the Philippines. Isidro will also star in Black Sheep's upcoming films: Raya Martin's Death of Nintendo and Lav Diaz's Servando Magdamag.
Motel Acacia is set to open first in the Philippines this March 11 before it reaches theaters all over the world in the coming months. Black Sheep and EpicMedia hopes audiences all over the country will experience this Filipino horror film unlike any other.
The film also stars Perry Dizon, Nicholas Saputra (Indonesia's cult classic Ada Apa dengan Cinta?), Vithaya Pansringarm (Nicolas Winding Refn's Only God Forgives and The Hangover 2), Bront Palarae (HBO's Halfworld), Talia Zucker (Lake Mungo) and Will Jaymes (MTV Australia's The Sellers).
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