Lolo's Child Comes Home!

Mark your calendars and tell your friends! If you missed it the first time now's your chance. Now being tagged the Asian community's answer to Purple Rain, Lolo's Child will make its official hometown debut at the Bloor Cinema on Wednesday, November 27, 2002 at 7pm when it opens the 2002 Reel Asian Film Festival.

Since its completion in December 2001, this intrepid film and its spectacular soundtrack have made their way to sold out shows across the west coast, a Mid-west premiere and an extended run at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago, and the opening night slot at the Washington DC Film Festival, but the ultimate coup for the Lolo's Child team was to be awarded the Ishmael Bernal Award for Innovative Cinema when Lolo's Child returned to it's homeland during the 2002 CineManila International Film Festival in the Philippines.

"... Lolo`s Child makes some important strides on filmmaking technique, especially in Candido`s innovative uses of both visual editing and music ... Candido includes several musical sequences in the film and as a whole, the film merges conventional narrative with experimental film with music video work in a way that feels fluid rather than contrived or forced. It`s certainly one of the most interesting Asian American/Canadian films to literally watch and listen to, a veritable feast for the senses but not just eye and ear candy... an entertaining, intelligent and important new film."

Alongside the enthusiastic reviews from both critics and audience members, is the buzz surrounding the impressive Q n' A sessions hosted by the passionate Candido, in which he speaks eloquently about domestic violence issues, independent filmmaking and its effect on the new generation of Asian filmmakers.

Lolo's Child tackles issues surrounding domestic abuse while telling the story of a young artist reassessing what his family and culture mean to his own identity. Candido describes Lolo's Child as a modern Filipino folk tale. Using a cross-cultural perspective and a hyper-realistic approach, Candido has designed a film that possesses an accessible story from any perspective. It is the journey of an artist, of an unrequited love, of a son's struggle with his father's death and his history of domestic abuse, as well as a commentary on the influence of tradition on a generation of North American born Filipinos. It is the story of how Junior finds his mentor in the form of a quirky Filipino Elvis impersonator, Uncle Perfecto (Steve Comilang) who helps Junior find his way to happiness and understanding through music. All of this tightly packaged with deliberate multi-media driven art direction.

"... reminiscent in more than one way of Joyce's Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man, Candido's film, is at once the revelation of a major, idiosyncratic new talent venturing for the first time into long-form work; a stinging contemplation of the self-imposed exile's enduring connection to family and cultural heritage; and an imaginary simulation of the ways in which human beings manage to play and re-play, mix and re-mix the narratives that constitute their lives."

The Bloor Cinema is located at 506 Bloor Street West at the corner of Bathurst and Bloor St. Admission is $8 at the door, to purchase advance tickets visit Pages Books and Magazines at 256 Queen Street West (at John).