‘People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose’ wins in Brazil

Liz Alindogan in “People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose”

John Torres’ film, “People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose,” won Special Mention in the New Views section of the sixth Olhar de Cinema: Curitiba International Film Festival held recently in Brazil.

Torres’ film mixes footage from Celso Ad Castillo’s unfinished 1980s movie, “The Diary of Vietnam Rose,” with recent interviews with its cast and crew, led by actress-producer Liz Alindogan.

“I had always wondered how this would translate to young foreign audiences abroad,” Torres told the Inquirer.
“To get this award gives me enough courage to explore more ways of making films and documentaries—
knowing that there is a segment of the population that has this openness to new cinematic languages and ways of looking at the world.”

Radical

According to the fest’s website, the New Views section consists of films that are “radical in their aesthetics…
flirt with the venture and the risk of unknown paths.”

The site says Torres is “among the recent strong voices arising in Philippine cinema…continuing to tread one of the most singular trajectories with a filmmaking [style that’s] both deeply personal and capable of confronting the dilemmas of his country.

“People Power Bombshell” is summed up as “a reflection that gains increasingly complex human and social contours throughout its duration.”—BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.