While many Asian nations have a patchy record on gay rights, there have been great strides in recent years in The Philippines. Although gay people still face persecution in that nation, things have certainly been moving in the right direction, to the point where the gay-themed film Bwakaw has been picked as The Philippines official entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar.
It’s particularly good news, as historically there’s been a pattern of countries ignoring LGBT themed movie as their nomination, in favour of potentially less forward-thinking movie. In case you were wondering, the Best Foreign Language Oscar isn’t culled from all non-English movies released that year. Instead a committee in each nation is allowed to put forward a single movie that will be considered for the award.
Bwakaw stars popular Filipino actor Eddie Garcia as Rene, an ill-tempered, lonely 75-year-old gay man with a sensitive side, who only came out when he was 60. He spends much of his solitary existence talking to his dog, Bwakaw, and then decides to visit a former female flame at a nursing home, as well as hanging out with a gay couple who run a hair salon.
Filmmaker Jun Robles Lana, 40, spoke to the Wall Street Journal, telling them the film had the odds stacked against it, as ‘Gay stories don’t sell in the Philippines. And it’s a movie about growing old.’ Despite that, it’s found success on the festival circuit and healthy box office in its home country, partly because it uses humour to ‘break the silences’, says Lana, as he ‘didn’t want the film to be bleak’.
It’s still got a long way to go until it wins the Oscar, but it’s great that Bwakaw is in the race.
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