The Philippines is seeing a drastic shift in media consumption. There is now a deluge of online streaming platforms that provide their users the luxury of watching films whenever and wherever their users please. Whether or not the country is ready for such bandwidth-intensive services–I’m looking at you, damned I.S.P.s! Culprits!–is however beyond this writing.
Enzo Williams’ Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo and Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna are debuting online on a new streaming platform dedicated for Filipino indies called Cinetropa. We’ve talked about accessibility of Filipino indies before–I share most of Tristan’s sentiments in his thought piece, right here–so it’s with sheer excitement that I open the e-mail sent to us by the films’ producers Tuko and Buchi Boy. I’m very eager to see where this goes.
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Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo
2014 / History, Drama / Watch the trailer!
Dir. Enzo Williams
Act. Robin Padilla, Vina Morales, Daniel Padilla…
Synopsis: The true story of Andres Bonifacio, a man who rose as a leader in the fight against the Spanish oppressors, and would gain the enmity of even those fighting for the same cause.
From our review: “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo is a layered tragic love story to the country that will always be relevant in the age of revisionism.”
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Heneral Luna
2015 / History, Drama / Watch the trailer!
Dir. Jerrold Tarog
Act. John Arcilla, Mon Confiado, Nonie Buencamino…
Synopsis: Set during the Philippine-American war, a short-tempered Filipino general faces an enemy more formidable than the American army: his own treacherous countrymen.
From our review: “It is a story representative of not just our current and still chaotic political landscape but of who we are and what we can do but don’t.”
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Bonifacio opened to a kind box office reception at 2014’s Metro Manila Film Festival. The producers also recently spilled that there’s a new “more lucid and powerful” cut of the film which they believe will appeal to an international audience as well. Heneral Luna recently broke records of DVD sales, a success that in all likelihood will translate to VOD (video-on-demand) too. Rusca fangirls are light on their feet at this point.
Cinetropa is a new platform for both Filipino filmmakers and audience. The site will showcase only local films, highlighting mostly indies. It’s a rather niche market, but I’m curious to see if it works–MUBI, as an example, is billed the “artsier” version of Netflix, which on its own is a very niche value prop. The site, at the time of this writing, services 7 million users, and is doing well revenue-wise.
Users can start streaming Filipino films with Cinetropa at the base rate of 190 pesos for users in the Philippines, and $3.99 for users everywhere else. Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo is now available for streaming at 288 pesos; Heneral Luna is currently on the site’s “coming soon” queue.
Like CineTropa on Facebook for more info!
