MANILA, Philippines – JC Santos and Angel Aquino are set to star in Motel Acacia, an upcoming film from Singing in Graveyards director Bradley Liew.
The actors will be part of an international cast that also includes Belgian actor Jan Bijvoet (Borgman, Peaky Blinders), Malaysia’s Bront Palarae (Satan’s Slaves), Thailand’s Vithaya Pansringarm (Only God Forgives), Australia’s Talia Zucker (Lake Mungo, Ned Kelly) and US/Australia’s Will Jaymes (Beast).
“Set in a fictional snowy United States, the film is about a young Filipino man who is groomed by his tyrannical Caucasian father to take over Motel Acacia which is tasked with exterminating immigrants by the government through a bed haunted with the spirit of a Filipino tree demon, that eats men and impregnates women,” Bradley said.
The film is co-written by Bradley and award-winning producer Bianca Balbuena.
Motel Acacia is Bradley’s sophomore feature, following his debut film, Singing in Graveyards, which starred Pepe Smith. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival Critics Week 2016, travelled to over 30 festivals, and won awards in film festivals in Malaysia and Kolkata.
Aside from an international cast, the film also has several companies involved in its production, including Black Sheep, the studio that brought Exes Baggage unto the world. Other companies are Taiwan’s Mandarin Vision, Thailand’s White Light Post, Slovenia’s Studio Virc, Croatia’s Nukleus Films and Singapore’s Tier Pictures.
The film will be produced by produced by Philippines’ Epicmedia and Singapore’s Potocol.
A truly international production (the director, after all, is Malaysian-born and Philippines-based), the film also has a global crew staff including Thai editor Lee Chatametikool (Shutter) and South African composer Chris Letcher.
From the Philippines are co-editor Benjamin Tolentino (Die Beautiful), cinematographer Larry Manda (Norte, the End of History) and Asian Film Awards-nominated production designers Benjamin Padero and Carlo Tabije.
Asked about what it’s like working with the team, Bradley said “What a riot! At the end of the day, it’s really just friends having fun! I’ve always felt that we in Southeast Asia are still fighting to heal ourselves from the scars of colonialism.”
“This film may be horror in genre, but the voice of this film is an attempt to challenge a younger generation to open their eyes and to see that there is something very wrong with the world,” he said.
Motel Acacia is set to start principle photography at the end of November in Philippines and Slovenia. – Rappler.com
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