RUSS Ligtas in “Miss Bulalacao”
Filipino filmmaker Ara Chawdhury’s “Miss Bulalacao” will be screened in festivals in four countries and three continents.
“I am ecstatic about bringing Visayan humor to international audiences,” said Cebu-based Chawdhury.
First stop for the film is the Seoul Independent Women Film Festival in South Korea from June 2 to 12.
It will have its North American premiere at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ New Filipino Cinema event, in San Francisco, California, in the United States from June 9 to Aug. 3.
It will then compete at the Bangkok Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in Thailand from June 10 to 19.
“Miss Bulalacao” will also be shown at the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa from June 16 to 26.
The film tells the story of a young “drag queen” who mysteriously finds himself pregnant. Chawdhury said that the film, “at its heart…is about identity and whatever it is that [makes up] the essence of being a woman.”
An entry in last year’s Cinema One Originals, the film topbills Russ Ligtas, Tessie Tomas, Nanette Inventor, Mon Confiado and Chai Fonacier. Bayani San Diego Jr.