PATINTERO and HENERAL LUNA Invades APCC 2016 and History Con 2016
(Words By: Kimberly Mas, Photos By: Love Zenarosa)
Last month’s long weekend brought with it exciting events that graced the city.
One was Asia Pop Comicon 2016, now on its 2nd year! The countries’ biggest pop culture event came back with a bang. News about Nicholas Hoult, known for his roles in notable titles “Xmen” and “Warm Bodies” and newcomer Millie Bobbie Brown for her first role as Eleven in “Stranger Things” attracted fans from all over Manila.
Another noteworthy event was History Con, the first ever history Con in Manila, held in the same weekend, but in a different venue. Comicons like Asia Pop and History Con were good platforms for homegrown talents to showcase themselves to the public.
The comicon crowd roared in excitement as the cast of the groundbreaking film, “Heneral Luna” entered the main stage of the event. “Heneral Luna”, a 2015 historical film directed by Jerrold Tarog and produced by Artikulo Uno Productions, has garned widespread positive responses from movie critics and audiences for its overall excellent production. The film – a discussion of the meaning of true heroism in a Philippine context, was the country’s official entry to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, though sadly wasn’t nominated.
The Heneral Luna cast served as an icebreaker for the comicon crowd to welcome the the cast of “Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo”. This new coming-of-age film, a tale about how a young neighborhood ‘patalo’ assembles a group of ‘losers’ to join her in the greatest battle of the streets: patintero, is one of the featured presenters this year. . The movie stars Nafa Hilario Cruz (Meng), Isabel ‘Lenlen’ Frial (Nicay), William Buenafuente (Shifty), and Claude Adrales (Z-Boy) under the direction of Mihk Vergara. A mini graphic novel with works from the big names from the local comic book scene like Rob Cham, Arnold Arre and many more was also launched as a companion piece with the film.
Comic book fans got a special treat from Asia Pop Comicon: the ‘Patintero’ comic book was launced and sold with a meet-and-greet and exclusive book signing event from the comic book creators held at the TBA-Patintero booth. “Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo” will be released in theatres nationwide on October 5, 2016. Watch the trailer for a short teaser of the upcoming film: