The Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) has officially chosen Philippines' entry for the upcoming 97th Academy Awards - Ramona Diaz's And So It Begins, FAP revealed on their Facebook page.
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| Leni Robredo in And So It Begins |
It's a surprising choice for the local Academy as this will be the first time the country will be submitting a documentary for the International Feature category. Last year, the country's Film Academy (with the help of FDCP) has picked Carl Joseph Papa's Iti Mapukpukaw (The Missing). It's also out from our predictions (GomBurza or Tumandok).
The documentary premiered on Sundance back in January with tepid reviews. Leni Robredo also attended the premiere in Park City, Utah. However, when distributor Solar Pictures released the film in the Philippines last August 21st, supporters of the former Vice President embraced the film and organized block screenings across the country.
The block screenings were unusually done as major cinema chains did not schedule official screenings for the film. "We were supposed to be a national release," says director Diaz in an interview with Rappler.
The film is also a companion piece to Diaz's previous documentary A Thousand Cuts (2022) which featured the now Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa and Rappler. The documentary won a Peabody Award and was distributed by PBS in the United States.
Deadline for submission for the category is on October 2. The submitted film must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The 97th Academy Awards will took place on March 3, 2025.
