Erik Matti: Last News

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent The Toronto Film Festival is awash with international titles. Led by Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed Of The Sacred Fig” and Gints Zilbalodis’ “Flow,” the festival’s huge Centrepiece spread alone has 38 titles from outside Canada and the U.S. The Discovery section has another 18.

EXCLUSIVE: Filipino producer-distributor CreaZion Studios is unveiling a slate of film and TV productions here in Cannes, including Severino: The First Serial Killer, which has Dolly De Leon joining Dennis Trillo in the cast.

Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald has won the €50,000 ($54,000) Series Mania Seriesmakers award.

EXCLUSIVE: US-based Filipino filmmaker Isabel Sandoval is returning to the Philippines to shoot her fourth feature, Moonglow, starring Arjo Atayde (Trigger, BuyBust).

Philippines media and entertainment company ABS-CBN is set to launch tentpole co-production The Bagman at this year’s Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore, with the star of the series, Arjo Atayde, also attending the event. 

Kathryn Bernado, known as the Queen of Philippines Cinema, and Triangle Of Sadness star Dolly de Leon are both almost unrecognizable in their new movie, A Very Good Girl, which ABS-CBN and Star Cinema are opening at the U.S. box office today (October 6). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Action thriller, “Trigger” from writer-director Richard Somes (“We Will Not Die Tonight,” “Supremo”) has wrapped production and is beginning sales at the European Film Market. “Trigger” (aka “Tokakk”) tells the story of a lonely security guard (portrayed by Arjo Atayde) previously discharged from the military due to his post-traumatic stress disorder. He finds himself embroiled in a different kind of war when a young woman (Julia Montes) seeks his protection against a corrupt police death squad. While the pair fight for their lives, the man must confront his inner demons to earn his redemption. The film also stars Arjo Atayde (“Cattleya Killer”), Julia Montes (“Brothers”), Sid Lucero (“The End of History”) and Kokoy De Santos (“Game Boy”) and is produced by Wilfredo C. Manalang of Fusee (the company that co-produced Cannes Camera d’Or prize-winner “Plan 75”), Somes of Strawdog Studio Production, Ria Atayde and Sylvia Sanchez from Nathan Studios and Michaelangelo Masangkay, co-owner of Toronto-based post sound house Theo & Atlas Productions Inc. with Fernando Henna.

It’s rare that a sequel competes in the International Oscar category, especially when the first part didn’t get selected. It’s a measure of Erik Matti’s latest film that, though it follows on from 2013’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight title On the Job—or rather, starts in the aftermath—this second instalment stands alone. “The big difference between the two,” said Matti, “is that the first one was set in urban Manila, and the second one is set in the countryside of the Philippines, just to show two contrasts that exist within both worlds.”

EXCLUSIVE: Raven Banner Entertainment has boarded action thriller Trigger (Topakk), directed by the Philippines’ Richard Somes, to executive produce and handle international sales. 

Nadine Lustre, Louise delos Reyes and film and TV actor Mccoy Deleon are the leads in rising star Philippines director Mikhail Red’s “Deleter.” A first teaser has been released for the film that straddles the techno-horror and psychological thriller genres. Based on a script by Mikhail and Nikolas Red, the film follows Lyra, who works shifts at a shadowy online content moderation office where employees, known as deleters, are tasked with the process of filtering graphic uploads from reaching social media platforms. The responsibility of censorship proves bearable for Lyra, whom her co-workers, as well as her boss Simon, observe as a cold person unfazed by the disturbing imagery she sees on a daily basis. What they do not know is that Lyra hides a deep trauma. Lyra’s attempt to erase and forget her past has forced her to don an apathetic face to the horrors of the world.

Philippines director Mikhail Red is poised to begin shooting of “Deleter,” a film that straddles the techno-horror and psychological thriller genres.The story involves an online content moderator who deletes a suicide video made by her co-worker. But the otherwise desensitized woman cannot escape from either her own troubled past or from a mysterious vengeful presence.The film is scripted by Red and younger brother Nikolas Red.

Manori Ravindran International Editor[Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Triangle of Sadness”]Dolly de Leon doesn’t get very far in Cannes without being stopped in the street by enthusiastic supporters. The scene-stealing Filipina actor stars in Ruben Östlund’s festival sensation “Triangle of Sadness,” where her every line has so far prompted cheers in press and public screenings alike.De Leon plays Abigail, a toilet manager on a chaotic cruise ship who gets her own back on her bosses and guests when, well, shit hits the fan.

Liza Foreman The journey from franchise to a competition slot at the Venice Film Festival to HBO series was the subject of Thursday’s Venice Production Bridge conference, “From the Philippines to the World: The ‘On the Job’ Franchise and Exploring New Ways of Global Content Distribution.”In good spirits in a market cocktail that followed on Thursday evening, Erik Matti, the director of “On the Job: The Missing 8,” as his new film is called, told Variety how he got to keep his film at three hours and 28 minutes, and show it at the festival, as well as divide this film, and his previous one, “On the Job,” into one six-part series for HBO.The series premieres on HBO in Asia on Sunday, two days after the film is shown in Venice.