Jaclyn Jose (right) in “Patay na si Hesus”
Victor Kaiba Villanueva’s “Patay na si Hesus” will have screenings in the United States and Canada this month.
Producer Bianca Balbuena told the Inquirer that screenings will be held in different theaters in the US: San Bruno, Union City, Orange and Carson, California; Woodridge, Illinois; Las Vegas, Nevada; and Elizabeth, New Jersey, ongoing until April 12.
Also scheduled are screenings in Canada from April 13 to 19: Edmonton, Alberta; Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Scarborough, Ontario.
The Cebuano comedy, which topbills Cannes best actress Jaclyn Jose (for Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa”), is also in the lineup of the 13th Seattle Translations Film Festival, set from May 3 to 12.
Also known as the Seattle Transgender Film Festival, Translations is described as a “groundbreaking” event that provides “a venue for films by, for, and about transgender people and the issues facing the community.”
Since its launch in 2006, Translations has become the world’s largest transgender film festival, which “places emphasis on visibility and positive representations.”
“I’m excited for our kababayan abroad, especially ’yung mga mga Bisaya, to watch our film,” Villanueva told the Inquirer. “I am sure it will be a new experience for them. Hindi baduy ang Bisaya! (Bisaya is not corny!)”
The black comedy follows bickering family members on a road trip from Cebu to Dumaguete, as they grudgingly pay their last respects to the deceased, philandering patriarch.
A scene from “Patay na si Hesus”
Nothing beats “bonding with family and friends while watching a movie,” the director said. “I hope our film will make them miss home and remind them of the beauty of our country.”
“It’s been a wild ride,” scriptwriter Fatrick Tabada remarked. “From Cebu to Dumaguete … the family’s journey continues—this time, in the US. We hope there will be more regional films that will have not just national but international screenings, as well.”
Tabada pointed out that a Cebuano film having an international release is “a testament that regional cinema has an audience. After all, cinema, just like laughter, is a universal language.”
Writer-producer Moira Lang agreed: “When representatives of ABS-CBN International (the film’s US distributor) attended its screening at the Cinematografo fest in San Francisco last November, they saw firsthand how warm the audience’s reception was for the film. They noted that it was big a hit among the viewers and that language was not a barrier to non-Cebuanos.”
Under distributor Astro, Villanueva’s film will also have a theatrical run in Malaysia, in various Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), starting May 17.