Asog (2025)

Directed by

Seán Devlin

Genre

documentary, comedy, drama

Country

Philippines, Canada

Runtime

1h 39m

Rated

PG

Rating

6.0 of 10 from 1 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film follows survivors of Typhoon Haiyan on Sicogon Island as they fight to reclaim their ancestral land from a real estate company. The story shows ordinary people standing up against powerful corporate interests after losing their homes in the storm.

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What happens

Asog is a 2023 docufiction film produced and directed by Seán Devlin and written by Rey Aclao, Devlin, and Arnel Pablo. An international co-production between the Philippines and Canada, the film's cast consists entirely of Typhoon Haiyan survivors, none of whom were trained actors. The film is executive produced by Adam McKay, Alan Cumming and Joel Kim Booster. Time Magazine described the film's impact as "a remarkable victory of society’s poorest over entrenched corporate interests." The film features residents of Sicogon Island who had their land stolen in the aftermath of the storm by the country's largest real estate company Ayala Land Inc. Private armed militia allegedly forced 6,000 people to abandon their ancestral land so the corporations could build a luxury resort. After Asog’s success on the festival circuit, Ayala paid $5.1 million USD in reparations to 784 displaced families who had refused to leave the island. Most of the money was used to build 474 new storm-resistant homes. The Ayala conglomerate allegedly sabotaged the film's Filipino premiere leading Rolling Stone Philippines to dub the film "The Biggest Movie That The Philippines has Never Seen". The film was a selection of the Cannes Docs-in-progress showcase, had its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and was an official selection of SXSW Sydney and the 67th BFI London Film Festivals. It also screened in competition at the 39th Warsaw and the 54th Goa International Film Festivals. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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