HIGIT pa sa isang scarefest ang horror film na Motel Acacia, na nagkaroon ng world premiere sa ika-32 na Tokyo International Film Festival sa Japan (TIFFJP) noong Nobyembre 1, Biyernes.

“As the creatures and monsters in Motel Acacia strike terror in our minds, it is the actions of humans that terrify me. This film seeks to understand our own apathy towards man’s cruelty in today’s society,” paliwanag ng director na si Bradley Liew.

Dagdag pa ng Malaysian-born filmmaker na based sa bansa, “It is about the scars of colonialism in Southeast Asia and how it facilitates the vicious cycle of violence. It’s about a young man’s search for truth and the affirmation that there is good inside us all, no matter how dark the times are.”

Laking-pasasalamat ng award-winning producer na si Bianca Balbuena, na asawa ni Liew, na nabigyan sila ng pagkakataong i-showcase ang pelikula nila sa TIFFJP platform at sa global audience. “We found a good place to launch ‘Motel Acacia’ here and we hope to get a good response also,” sabi pa ng 2018 Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) Producer of the Year.

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Kilala si Balbuena sa ilan sa mga pelikulang gaya ng Clash (Engkwentro) ni Pepe Diokno, A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis) ni Lav Diaz, at Season of the Devil (Ang Panahon ng Halimaw).

Dagdag ni Balbuena, “Yoshihiko Yatabe and Kenji Ishizaka, the head programmers, have been our good supporters. And even if we submitted late, they watched the film with great interest and wrote personal messages to us on how they love the film.”

Kabilang ang “Motel Acacia” sa walong pelikula sa Asian Future section para sa up-and-coming directors na may maximum na tatlong feature-length films.

Tungkol ang pelikula sa isang lalaki, na binigyang-buhay ni JC Santos, na hinarap ang isang demonyo. Namamalagi ang masamang espiritu sa isang motel na ipinasa sa kanya ng tatay niya. Bahagi si Santos ng isang multinational crew at cast kasama ang mga actor na sina Jan Bijvoet at Nicholas Saputra.