Filipino filmmaker Auraeus Solito’s film Busong premiered last night at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight to a warm welcome.
“You are about to open a world that no one has ever seen before. So different from other films from the Philippines in the past. I cannot describe it… maybe it could be called ‘Palawanee’,” Frederic Boyer, artistic director of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight said in welcoming the “Busong” team.
Busong is among 21 feature films in this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. Alessandra de Rossi is the film’s lead star. Other cast members include Clifford Banagale, Rodrigo Santikan, Bonivie Budao, Vincent Magbanua, Mina Tesorio, and Dax Alejandro.
Busong, Solito’s fifth feature film, is the first Palawanon indigenous film. The film’s title was based on the Palawan concept of fate or instant karma, the film focuses on how nature reacts instantly to man’s disrespect of nature and other men. The film’s lack of much dialog was compensated by the images, to which the Cannes audience appreciated and applauded.
