Culion Film, MMFF 2019 Entry - A Story Need to Be Told

“CULION,” the highly-anticipated Metro Manila Film Festival 2019 (MMFF 2019) entry penned by Ricky Lee, directed by Alvin Yapan and with more than 150 powerhouse cast will shown  to endured the stigma brought by its historic past as home to the biggest leper colony in the world.

Culion is headed by the three award winning actress, Iza Calzadao, Jasmin Curtis-Smith and Meryll Soriano together with Joem Bacon, Suzette Ranillo and Mike Liwag. The powerhouse cast also includes Simon Ibarra, Lee O’Brian, Joel Saracho, Mai Fanglayan, Nico Locco, Yam Mercado, Upeng Fernandez, Erlinda Villalobos, Mayen Estanero, Aaron Concepcion, Nikko Delos Santos, VJ Mendoza, Rex Lantano, Jay Garcia, Elle Velasco, Jack Love Falcis, Tommy Roca, Ruth Alferez, Roven Alejandro, Raflesia Bravo, Luminita Gamboa, Jai Astor, Elisa Weber, DMS Boongaling, Marcus Dreeke, Jaepheth Cortez, with Earl Andrew Figueroa, and The Culion Kalinangan Ensemble. Mercedes Cabral and John Lloyd Cruz have special participation.

When the executive producer Gillie Sing of iOptions Ventures Corp asked on why they create film on Culion, she said:

"Culion is so rich in history, students should know about Culion because this is part of Philippines history. Did you know that Culion had its own government and currency? Meron silang sariling mundo because of segregation so in that context we would want to get a story out kaya nung nakausap naman si Sir Ricky Lee, nilatag na namin kaagad ang kwento na gusto namin ma achieved and at the same time to break the stigma. For those who have visited Culion, nakita niyo how beautiful it is pero nakita niyo rin how underdeveloped the municipality is. Bakit siya underdeveloped despite the beauty of the town, because takot ang mga tao lumapit because of the stigma."

Watch below as some of the male cast Mike Liwag, Nico Locco, Jay Garcia, Aaron Concepcion, Rex Lantano share their experience in filming Culion and the reason to watch this at Metro Manila Film Festival 2019.

This is as much the story of three women as it is the story of Culion. In the 1940s, Anna, Doris, and Ditas are three leper patients who live in Culion at a time when the disease is practically a life sentence. No cure has yet been found, and no one is allowed to leave. You live and die there. It is why the place is called the Land of the Living Dead. Anna (Iza Calzado) never loses hope that soon a cure will be found, even when her baby is taken away from her. Doris (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) believes in the myth that a beautiful diwata will soon heal the place. Ditas (Meryll Soriano) keeps attempting to kill herself, helpless against the onslaught of memories from the outside world. Together the three friends try to negotiate a life of stigma that seesaws between hope and despair, redefining their roles as women, mother, friend, and human being. In the end they prove that neither disease nor death can erase their humanity and their capacity to endure.

CULION OPENS DECEMBER 25 2019 IN CINEMAS NATIONWIDE