Lino Brocka’s restored ‘Insiang’ to open World Premieres Film Fest

Lino Brocka’s "Insiang" will open the World Premieres Film Festival on June 24 at SM Mall of Asia's Premiere Cinema.

According to a press release from the FIlm Development Council of the Philippines, this will also be the premiere for the film's restored version.

Attending the opening of the festival and the film's screening will be acclaimed critic and filmmaker Pierre Rissent.

Released in 1976, "Insiang" is considered one of Brocka's best films, working as a critique of Martial Law-era Philippines as well as an intimate family portrait. Insiang (Hilda Koronel) lives with her mother Tonia (Mona Lisa) in the Tondo slums. When Tonia's younger boyfriend Dado (Ruel Vernal) moves in and then forces himself on Insiang, Insiang seeks revenge.

The film's restoration was accomplished at the L’Immagine Ritrovata Laboratories in Bologna, Italy through the partnership of the FDCP and the World Cinema Project of Martin Scorsese's The Film Foundation.

"Insiang" is now a state-owned cultural heritage product after the National Film Archive of the Philippines fully acquired the rights after negotiations between the FDCP and the film’s producer, Ruby Tiong Tan, last year.

According to the FDCP statement, the restored version was also part of Classics Section at the Cannes Film Festival—the same festival where it had its international premiere in 1978. 

Now, "Insiang" will be launching the WPFF's new Classics Section, which also features six other restored classics: "The Color of the Pomegranates" (1969, Sergei Parajanov, Armenia), "After the Curfew" (1954, Usmar Ismail, Indonesia), "Kalpana" (1948, Uday Shankar, India), "Nidhayana" (1973, Lester James Peries, Sri Lanka), "Touki Bouki" (1973, Djibril Diop Mambety, Senegal), and "Portrait of an Artist as Filipino" (1965, Lamberto Avellana).  Many of these international classics were also restored by the World Cinema Project at the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratories. — BM, GMA News

The World Premieres Film Festival Philippines will take place from June 24 to July 7 in partnership with SM Cinemas.