Filipino film ‘Cleaners’ makes it to prestigious Busan film festival

A Filipino film made from photocopied frames is set to screen at the prestigious Busan International Film Festival.

Cleaners, the full-length feature debut of Glenn Barit, tells the story of a group of high school students from a rural Catholic school in the Philippines in 2008.

The film follows the students as they struggle with societal pressures to remain proper and “clean” while also discovering more about the world they live in.

Cleaners was made by printing and photocopying each of the film’s frames, and coloring the protagonists in with highlighters by hand. The film ended up using about 34,560 sheets of paper.

In his director’s statement, Glenn said that the film’s form is a tribute to “textbooks, manila papers, highlighters and pens before the dominance of the internet” and is meant to be a counter to the crisp visuals of modern digital films – “a statement about how ‘imperfect’ cinema can be something of equal value.”

Cleaners is one of two Filipino films selected for the festival’s A Window on Asian Cinema Section, alongside Raya Martin’s film Death of Nintendo.

Other Filipino films screening at the festival are Petersen Vargas’ How To Die Young in Manila, and Kyle Nieva’s Kids on Fire. The two short films are part of the Asian Short Film Competition under the festival’s Wide Angle section.

The festival will screen a total of 192 films from 68 countries, opening with the multi-director anthology Septet: The Story of Hong Kong, and closing with Tamura Kotaro’s animation Josee, The Tiger and The Fish.

It will run from October 21 to 30, after its original schedule was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Several sections of the festival will be moved online, with outdoor events including the opening and closing ceremonies cancelled to prevent the gathering of crowds. – Rappler.com