Oscars: Philippines Selects Rafael Manuel’s ‘Filipiñana’ for International Feature Race
The Philippines has selected Rafael Manuel's debut feature "Filipiñana" as its official submission for the international feature category at the 99th Academy Awards, choosing it from a shortlist of eight films. The film, which is distributed by Kino Lorber, has already found theatrical success in North America and now enters the Oscars campaign with backing from its distributor's marketing team.
Written and directed by Manuel, "Filipiñana" follows Isabel, a 17-year-old from the Philippine provinces who takes a job at an upmarket golf resort, set against a backdrop of drought and intense heat. Manuel said he chose the golf course setting deliberately, viewing it as a metaphor for entrenched class divisions in the country, noting that such courses originated on American military bases before being taken over by the local elite. Kino Lorber's chair and chief executive, Richard Lorber, praised the film as a "cinematic miracle" since first seeing it at the Sundance Film Festival and pledged full support for its awards push.
- Philippines picks "Filipiñana" as its Oscar international feature entry
- Film follows a teenager working at a golf resort amid drought
- Director uses golf course as metaphor for Philippine class divide
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Filipiñana is the Philippines' official entry for the international feature category at the upcoming 99th Academy Awards, having been picked over seven other contenders on a national shortlist. Each country submits one film per year for this category, and a nomination requires the film to first make an Oscars shortlist before contenders are named. The film is a debut feature from writer-director Rafael Manuel and is being released and campaigned internationally by the distributor Kino Lorber.
The story centres on Isabel, a teenage girl from a rural Philippine province who goes to work at an exclusive golf resort. Manuel has said the setting was a deliberate choice, using the golf course as a way of illustrating divisions of wealth and class in Philippine society, given the history of such courses being built on former American military land before passing into the hands of the country's elite.
Getting picked as the national submission does not guarantee a nomination; it simply puts the film into contention alongside entries from other countries, with further shortlisting and voting still to come before nominees are confirmed.