Indie film on OFWs shines in Asian filmfest in France

A Filipino independent film about overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) was among the nine films vying for recognition in the 22nd International Festival of Asian Films in Vesoul, France.
A film that narrates the lives of OFWs in Japan in the 1990s, "Imbisibol" "aims to present the characters as normal people – fighting, striving, struggling everyday to provide for their families, to survive deportation, to thrive against discrimination," said director Lawrence Fajardo.
The film presents the struggles of the OFWs as they toil in various jobs, most of which are menial – some even dangerous  –  as illegal immigrants to provide for their families and loved ones in the Philippines.
"The life of a migrant worker is not simply a life full of heroic deeds; it is a battle for survival," Fajardo said during the film's screening at the Vesoul Majestic Theater. "It is a battle not for existence, but for non-existence."
Fajardo was accompanied by his wife and producer Krisma Maclang Fajardo and screenwriter John Bedia during the screening, which managed to fill Vesoul Majestic Theater's largest screening room of almost 400 seats.
Fajardo said "Imbisibol" "wants to humanize the migrant workers, to present the personal portraits of the invisible not as superheroes, but as real people with real struggles, with real personal dilemmas."
"Imbisibol," co-produced by critically-acclaimed Philippine director Brillante Mendoza, had won Best Film and six other awards during the Sinag Maynila Independent Film Awards Ceremony in March 2015 in Manila. It has also been screened in Tokyo, Fukuoka, and Toronto Film Festivals in 2015. —KBK, GMA News

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