Movie making is a herculean endeavor and this becomes exponentially apparent especially if you’re an indie director/ filmmaker. With very little resources to go by, the length, production and quality of your film will be greatly impacted by the budget you more or less acquire.
Fortunately in this day and age crowdsourcing can help alleviate some of those financial pain points.
So it is with great surprise and delight when an Indiegogo project popped up on my timeline. This is for an odd Japanese-Pinoy thriller/drama being created by first-time feature film creator (and fellow CFAD Thomasian batchmate) Donie Ray Ordiales. Direk Donie has been living in Japan for quite some time and draws inspiration from stories of fellow Filipinos and their plight to integrate in a foreign land.
According to the official synopsis, Mangbibilog (working title) is a feature narrative thriller/drama about Filipino immigrants living in Japan (Legal and Illegal). This movie will portray their struggles of desperation to survive and provide financial support for their loved ones in the Philippines. Most of the scenes are inspired by real events.
Personally, I’m loving the setting and scenario in this clip. The gritty neon-lit cross-section of this urban Japanese street, coupled with the tension the main cast faced, and the thrilling music at the end (which vividly reminded me of Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue) makes for one interesting cinema.
It’s also quite interesting to see how people have expressed interest in this little project. Actor Polo Ravales signed up to be part of the production (we don’t know his character’s role yet) and the funds are trickling in slowly but they guys still need more help and support.
If Veronica Mars the Movie (Rated 79 Fresh on Rottentomatoes) got made through its Kickstarter Campaign, I’m sure we can help a fellow Filipino Indie director reach his dream. If you like what you saw, you can help keep the dream alive for one Filipino Indie maker (which actually helps the whole Filipino Indie Cinema industry as well) by backing this project up or, if you can’t give financial assistance, just help spread the word. 🙂
To help fund the project head over click here to head over to their Indiegogo page.
Here’s wishing MANGBIBILOG a successful Indiegogo run and we here at Ungeek cannot wait to see this film developed, produced and screened! Best of luck, Donie!