Janine Gutierrez. Image: Instagram/@janinegutierrez
“Babae at Baril” (The Gun and the Girl) starring Janine Gutierrez is set to make its North American premiere as it opens the New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF).
Gutierrez celebrated the achievement via Instagram, first announcing it on Aug. 11.
Sharing a video teaser of the film, she wrote, “So excited and soo fffffing wish we could actually go to NY for the North American premiere at the NYAFF but, nonetheless congrats to the team!”
The NYAFF highlights women in film, and Gutierrez too put focus on the fact that women were behind “Babae at Baril”.
Rae Red (“Si Chedeng at si Apple”) is writer and director; Bianca Balbuena and Iana Bernardez produced the film, while Tey Clamor and Ilsa Malsi were cinematographer and editor, respectively.
NYAFF will stream in the United States via the Start Cinema USA app from Aug. 28 to Sept. 12.
“Happy that it will be available everywhere in the US through streaming and I can’t wait for you to see it,” Gutierrez said in another post yesterday about the film’s NYAFF premiere.
“I’m counting the pros because it has always been my dreaaaammm to attend international festivals and it’s so bittersweet that the #NYAFF is only online for now,” she said. “But that just means we’ll have to make our own little red carpet / [theater]/ forum here.”
In “Babae at Baril”, Gutierrez portrays a salesperson from a department store who is fed up with being an underdog — until she finds a gun on her doorstep.
The film premiered at the QCinema International Film Festival last year, where Red won as best director and Gutierrez took home the best actress award. It is currently streaming on Cignal Play. JB
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