Underplayed Gems

Markova: Comfort Gay (2000)

Markova: Comfort Gay poster
Directed by
Gil Portes
Genre
biographical film, LGBTQ-related film
Country
Philippines
Runtime
1h 37m
Rating
7.4 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This film follows the life of a man forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers during World War II. It shows his childhood, survival during the war, and his later years as an older man looking back.

poignantsoberingpersonalhistorically groundedresilientgentleunflinchinglow-key

What happens

Markova: Comfort Gay is a 2000 Filipino biographical coming-of-age drama film based loosely on the life of Walter Dempster Jr., the last surviving Filipino "comfort gay" (male sex slaves for Imperial Japanese Army) from World War II. Written by Clodualdo Del Mundo Jr. and directed by Gil M. Portes, the film tells the story of her hardships during her childhood and her travail during the Second World War. The character was played by actor Dolphy, who played the adult Markova while two of his sons, Eric Quizon and Jeffrey Quizon, played the role of two younger Markovas in two different phases of her life. The film was released theatrically on December 25, 2000, as one of the official entries for the 26th Metro Manila Film Festival, winning Best Supporting Actor in the film festival and the 24th Gawad Urian Awards for Jeffrey Quizon. Aside from local acclaim, it also received international acclaim with the recognition of Prix de la Meilleure Interpretation to the father-and-sons Dolphy, Eric Quizon, and Jeffrey "Epy" Quizon at the 2001 Brussels International Film Festival. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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