Hailed as his new masterpiece, Elwood Perez’s “Esoterika: Maynila” will have a limited commercial run from September 23 – 29, 2015 at the Shang Cineplex. The film, fresh, enchanting, and seductively bizarre all at once, is an eclectic mix of satire, comedy, and experimental cinema. Esoterika: Maynila is the recipient of the Film Critics’ Choice Award at this year’s 63rd Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS).
Presented by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, in cooperation with T-Rex Productions, and in partnership with the Shang Cineplex, the screenings allow Filipino audiences to watch the film once again, after its international debut at the 39th Hong Kong International Film Festival last March.
In didactic Pilipino komiks tradition, Ronnie Liang embodies the schizoid character of Mario/Galogo, an up-and-coming graphic novelist in this treatise on the otherwise, lofty subject of learning given the characteristic, wildly entertaining Elwood Perez touch.
In a voyage of self-discovery, this protagonist – alternately ingenious and ingenuous – plunges into the territory of the exalted, the charmed and the bizarre, swimming through the uncharted waters of the unique Filipino experience, emerging from it all as an authentic Manileño imbued with the thought that tolerance is sophistication.
The multilingual cast is a convergence of Manila denizens of cross-cultural persuasions.
The cast features actors and non-actors alike, with Pinoy Dream Academy star Ronnie Liang top-billing. A-listers include Boots Anson-Roa, Carlos Celdran, Vince Tañada, Federico Olbes, Tesa Martinez, Francis Manalo and OJ Mariano, with cameos from Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Snooky Serna, Lance Raymundo, Jon Hall, Carlo Calma, Justin de Leon, Julia Varga Wig Tysmans, Zafra and Tessa Prieto-Valdez.
The film opened last year’s 10th Cinema One Originals, and was screened last month at the 11th Cinemalaya film festival. This October, “Esoterika: Maynila” will screen at the Roxy theater in San Francisco alongside “Otso” as part of the 22nd FACINE’s (Filipino Arts & Cinema International) tribute to director Perez, as he receives the Gintong Ani award.
The special limited run at the Shang Cineplex will sell tickets at regular cinema rates.
For more screening information and updates, visit the FDCP Facebook page at www.facebook.com/FDCPH
