Daniel Padilla Starrer ‘Kun Maupay Man It Panahon’ Gets World Premiere in Prestigious Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland

Carlo Francisco Manatad’s first feature film “Kun Maupay Man It Panahon (Whether the Weather is Fine)” is part of the official selection of the 74th Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where it will have its world premiere in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente (Filmmakers of the Present) section.

“Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” is the only competing film from the Philippines this year in Locarno, an A-List international film festival that provides a platform for auteur cinema. The Cineasti del Presente section for first or second feature films by emerging global talents will bestow the traditional Pardo d’oro and award for directing as well as prizes for Best Actor and Best Actress.

Starring Daniel Padilla, Rans Rifol, and Charo Santos-Concio, the drama on the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Tacloban City, Leyte was filmed in the Waray dialect.

In the aftermath of Yolanda in November 2013, Miguel (Padilla) roams the ruins in search of the two women in his life: his friend Andrea (Rifol) and mother Norma (Santos-Concio). Miguel is determined to flee to the big city before another storm approaches.

“Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” is written by Manatad, who hails from Tacloban, together with Giancarlo Abrahan V and Jérémie Dubois. Its producers are Josabeth Alonso, Vincent Wang, and Armi Rae Cacanindin who remarked, “After seven years, finally, we’ve come to this!”

In 2019, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) selected “Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” for the FDCP Project Market while in 2021, the FDCP’s FilmPhilippines Office named it as a recipient of the International Co-production Fund (ICOF) worth PHP 2.5 million.

“We are tremendously proud of the journey of ‘Kun Maupay Man It Panahon,’ which is a milestone in Philippine regional cinema. FDCP is honored to have supported Carlo Francisco Manatad’s journey from the development and production of this project until now when it’s ready to be shown to the world. We thank Locarno for giving it a world premiere and express our heartfelt gratitude to all international film labs, programs, and organizations for believing in and extending support to a Filipino regional film,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño.

The production companies behind “Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” are Cinematografica, planc., iWantTFC, Globe Studios, Black Sheep, Quantum Films, and CMB Films from the Philippines, House on Fire from France, AAND Company from Singapore, KawanKawan Media from Indonesia, and Weydemann Bros. from Germany.

It was also selected at Sorfund Pitching Forum, Talents Tokyo, Cannes Cinefondation L’Atelier, and Hanoi Project Market and was developed at La Fabrique des Cinema du Monde, Torino Film Lab Feature Lab 360, Semaine de la Critique Next Step, and EAVE Ties that Bind.

It has also received support from Aide aux cinemas du monde managed by the Centre national du cinema et de l’image animee and Institut francais, Torino Film Lab | Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme of the European Union, Brot fur die welt - Bread for the World Protestant development service, Visions Sud Est supported by SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation), Doha Film Institute, Asian Cinema Fund for Script Development, Talents Tokyo Next Masters Support Program, and Berlinale World Cinema Fund, an initiative of the German Federal Cultural Foundation and the Berlin International Film Festival in cooperation with the Federal Foreign Office and with further support by the Goethe-Institut.

The “Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” co-producers are Ling Tiong, Yulia Evina Bhara, Milena Klemke, Yvonne Wellie, Jakob D. Weydemann, and Jonas Weydemann while the executive producers are Carlo Katigbak, Cory Vidanes, Roldeo Endrinal, Jamie Lopez, Ginny Monteagudo-Ocampo, Olivia Lamasan, Quark Henares, Jan Pineda, Alonso, Cacanindin, and Arleen Cuevas.

Other members of the team are Patricia Sumagui (line producer), Lim Teck Siang (director of photography), Whammy Alcazaren (production Designer), Benjo Ferrer III (editor), Andrew Florentino (music), Roman Dymny (sound design), Sam Manacsa (art director), and Thesa Tang (wardrobe).

The Locarno Film Festival, to be held from August 4 to 14, has been showcasing arthouse films since 1946. In 2015, Manatad’s short film “Junilyn Has” premiered in Locarno's Pardi di Domani section.