Leonor Will Never Die
Leonor Will Never Die is a 2022 Filipino psychological comedy-drama film. It is the feature film directorial debut of Martika Ramirez Escobar, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Sheila Francisco as a retired screenwriter who, after falling into a coma, finds herself the action hero of her unfinished screenplay. The supporting cast includes Bong Cabrera, Rocky Salumbides, and Anthony Falcon. The film is an homage to Filipino action films of the 1970s and '80s. "Leonor Will Never Die" premiered at the World Cinema Dramatic Competition of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the first  Filipino film to compete since "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros" in 2006. Escobar was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit. Plot summary. Leonor Reyes (Sheila Francisco) was once a major player in the Filipino film industry after creating a string of successful action films, but now her household struggles to pay the bills. When she reads an advertisement looking for screenplays, Leonor begins tinkering with an unfinished script about the quest of young, noble Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides), forced to avenge his brother’s murder at the hand of thugs. While her imagination provides some escape from reality, she  goes all-in after an accident involving a television knocks her out, sends her into a coma, and transports her inside the incomplete movie. Now Leonor can play out her wildest dreams firsthand and discover the perfect ending to her story. Production. Concept and development. The idea for the film came to Escobar when she was a young girl after action star-turned-politician Joseph Estrada was elected President of the Philippines. In the film's production notes, Escobar comments, "Today, decades later, after having two more ‘action star’ presidents [Estrada and the failed bid of Fernando Poe Jr.], I  find myself questioning this absurd reality and am surprised by how easy it can be understood once I place it in parallel with our love for movies." After graduating from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a film degree, Escobar began working on the screenplay and continued to edit and revise it over the next eight years while she worked as a cinematographer on other films. During that time, she also attended writing workshops of screenwriters Ricky Lee and Bong Lao. Casting. For the role of Leonor, Escobar was looking for "someone who feels like they fit in that  macho world, with the intelligence and sharpness of a writer, and the tough tenderness of a mother." The film's producer, Monster Jimenez, recommended Sheila Francisco after seeing her in the stage musical drama "Ang Huling El Bimbo". Filming and post-production. The film was shot in the Philippines from July to September 2019. The film was supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) through its CreatePHFilms funding program and sponsored under its Full Circle Lab-Philippines development program. Reception. In a wrap-up of Sundance, "The New York Times" film critic A.O. Scott calls the film  wonderfully unclassifiable and says "the combination of family melodrama, pulpy violence and surreal comedy add up to the disarmingly tender portrait of an artist on the edge of the afterlife." Marya Gates of "RogerEbert.com" says the film "establishes writer/director Martika Ramirez Escobar as an artist with a singular voice and bright future in halls of weird cinema," with Sheila Francisco "an utter delight as Leonor." In a mixed review, Amy Nicholson of "Variety" writes that it is "creative and clever – perhaps too clever" as towards the end of the film "the script’s ambitions have outreached its grasp, even  with the formidable Francisco holding the stories’ layers together." Along with "The New York Times", the film is considered one of the best films of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival by "The Atlantic" and "Vogue". Accolades. At Sundance, the film was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit. In recognition of the accolades of "Leonora Will Never Die", as well as for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize-winner "The Headhunter's Daughter", the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chair Liza Diño-Seguerra described the moment as "Philippines Cinema's historic win at the Sundance," adding that  the filmmakers are "writing history."