Director Sherad Anthony Sanchez (The Last Priestess of Buhi) joins the burgeoning ranks of epic Filipino filmmakers with Imburnal, a 3 1/2-hour, nonlinear examination of poverty and violence and their influence on two young boys.
Set in the slums of Davao City and its nearby sewers, Imburnal could be considered the anti-Slumdog Millionaire. Initially rated X by the Philippines’ Movie and Television Review and Classification Board for its “objectionable presentation” of poverty (is there a pleasant way to present it?), any lingering controversy will increase the film’s profile. Asian, human rights and avant garde-focused festivals are sure bets, but theatrical release is almost out of the question, even at home. —hollywoodreporter.com
Sherad Anthony Sanchez (born 1984, Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines) is a graduate of Ateneo De Manila University. When he was in sophomore year he made his first short film, Apple (2005), about a professional mourner in a town beside the Bangkerohan River in Davao City, premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2006 . In his junior year, while on a leave‐of‐absence from school, he made his first feature, HULING BALYAN NG BUHI: O ANG SINALIRAP NGA ASOY NILA (HULING BALYAN NG BUHI: OR THE WOVEN STORIES OF THE OTHER) after winning a grant from Cinema One Originals 2006. The film, about an indigenous community amidst military and communist insurgency in southern Philippines, won both local and international acclaim. Noted as either the youngest narrative feature filmmaker in most of the participating festivals and was the first Filipino filmmaker to enter in competition for some.
In his senior year, Sanchez was selected by the United States Embassy of Manila for the… read more
Don't be put off by the title- this achieves the rare feat of being a lyrical, contemplative and audacious 21st century masterpiece
One of cinema's greatest stylistic challenges; being able to transform realism into a poetic art. Sanchez fuses these two direct opposites like so few films I've ever seen. A masterpiece.
One of the most original films of the last decade. Disturbing, painful and horrendously real.
