16 years after the release of his last film 'Bayaning Third World', Mike De Leon is finally making his return to filmmaking.
The acclaimed director, responsible for Filipino classics such as 'Kakabakaba Ka Ba?', 'Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising, 'Batch '81,' and 'Kisapmata', said that the new film will be very personal for him.
"[It is] a political melodrama set during the Japanese occupation in the 1940s,” De Leon said. “It’s loosely based on my family. It’s very personal. This is the story I wanted to tell… setting it during the Japanese occupation added a whole new dimension."
“The new film will provide insights on the collaboration issue with the Japanese. Were they guilty or just being practical? [It's] interesting that this issue still resonates today, with turncoats and opportunists fighting to collaborate with this new regime or, in the not-so-distant past, the Marcos government."
The screenplay is still in the works, in a collaboration with writer Sarge Lacuesta, and that polishing are being processed from their "would-be historical consultant."
De Leon added that he is making tours on Japan to visit historical spots from World War II, "not as a tourist, but to see the war shrines and museums… the other side of Japan. Not the Japan of sushi and tempura, but the Japan that invaded and killed. The Japan that tried to drive out the West and create an Asia for Asians.”
Casting Japanese actors for the untitled film is also on the line.
Recently, the filmmaker disclosed the conflict with Regal Film's "Mother" Lily and Roselle Monteverde for the restoration of his 1984 film 'Sister Stella L.' through a rare e-mail interview that got the attention of several netizens on social media.
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