Canadian Premiere
Ten years after Super Typhoon Haiyan, many Filipinos are still crawling from the wreckage. But some can still muster the will to dance amidst the devastation. Jaya, a non-binary teacher and former television comedian, is one of those indomitable souls. In a final bid for fame, they set off across the Philippines to compete in a beauty pageant only to encounter Arnel, a former student, en route. Banding together, this unlikely duo learn to support one another in a world at the brink of collapse.
Drawing on a decade of collaboration with Jaya and Arnel, Seán Devlin (himself a Juno-nominated comedian) stocks his hybrid film with super typhoon survivors, ensuring that it not only honours their experiences, but is infused with their resilience. Dizzying and deeply felt, Asog nimbly dances between the comic, sorrowful, and political. Both inspired and impacted by climate chaos, it recognizes the unprecedented circumstances we live in and responds with a film quite unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
Asog is the film we need right now. It is full of such passion and urgency and humour and love that it gurgles out of the screen and into your soul. I’m honoured to be an executive producer as I want every single person I know and many, many I don’t to see this thing of scarred beauty and queer, savage joy.
Alan Cumming, Executive Producer
September 30 & October 1: Q&A with director Seán Devlin & crew
Jaya, Arnel Pablo, Ricky Gacho Jr.
Canada/Philippines
2023
Spectrum
In Tagalog and Waray with English subtitles
Coarse Language, Violence
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits
Executive Producer
Adam McKay, Alan Cumming, Joel Kim Booster, Matthew Krysko, Cecilia R. Mejia
Producer
Amanda Ernst, Seán Devlin
Screenwriter
Seán Devlin, Jaya, Arnel Pablo
Cinematography
Anna MacDonald
Editor
Yap Sei-Been
Director
Seán Devlin 叶 世民
Seán’s debut feature When The Storm Fades earned him two jury prizes for Best Director and the Emerging Canadian Director prize at VIFF. His films have been presented at Cannes Docs, Tribeca, Cairo and Sao Paulo International Film
Festivals. He is an alum of the Rotterdam Producers Lab. His debut album Airports. Animals was nominated for the 2022 Juno award for Comedy Album of the Year. He was a Consulting Producer on Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.
Filmography: When The Storm Fades (2018)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
