Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (2017)

Directed by

Khavn De La Cruz

Genre

history, drama, adventure

Country

Philippines

Runtime

2h

Rating

9.0 of 10 from 2 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This is a 2017 Filipino film about the 1901 Balangiga massacre told from the perspective of an eight year old. It follows the brutal violence against Filipino villagers by American forces and their subsequent escape to a neighboring island.

bleakvisceralgrimdisturbingsadrawhistoricalviolent

What happens

Balangiga: Howling Wilderness is a 2017 Filipino film directed by Khavn De La Cruz and one of the circle competition entries to the 5th QCinema International Film Festival or QCinema. This movie shows, in the eyes of an eight-year-old, the tragedy that occurred in the days of 1901 when the Americans were supposed to identify with the Balangiga and other parts of Samar, including the events following the brutal massacre of several Samarnon and how they fled elsewhere to the neighboring island. The movie's shooting location took place in different parts of Samar, Leyte and Zambales (Central Luzon). Although there were various issues the movie received just before its release to the public, it still managed to receive several top recognition from various prestigious award-giving bodies in the Philippines, including the highest "Best Picture" award. The director of this movie receives “Best Director” as well as the movie stars who were based in Tacloban City. It had a Philippine nationwide theatrical release from August 15–21, 2018 in selected SM Cinemas, Gateway Cineplex, Robinsons Movieworld and Cinema '76 theaters as part of the Special Feature Section of 2nd Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. It was also shown as part of World Cinema section of the 24th edition of International Film Festival of Kerala in India, and also exhibited in Exground Film Festival in Wiesbaden, Germany last November 2018; further, it was also selected to be screened at the 20th edition of Jeonju International Film Festival held at the city of Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, South Korea in May 2019 under the Newtro Jeonju section, which was created to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Jeonju IFF and a special program that sheds light on the contemporary artists who have shared their vision with JIFF for the last 20 years. And, was awarded the coveted Jury Prize at the 5th Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival during the closing ceremony held in Cinema Central World, Bangkok, Thailand. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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