1941: Cordillera Iti Ima Ti GUbat │A NEW BEGINNING

As we are still overwhelmed with the success of our short film DAYAS in the local and international scene, we are ecstatic to share with everyone that we are now one step closer to the completion of our upcoming full-length film 1941: CORDILLERA ITI IMA TI GUBAT. Anticipate this action-packed cordilleran Film, a film that pays homage to our roots as Cordillerans.

Our Official Poster for the 1941: Cordillera Iti Ima ti Gubat

Featured in this film are our Cordilleran Champions Team Lakay’s Coach Mark Sangiao, Lito “the Thunderkid” Adiwang, Joshua “The Passion” Pacio, Stephen ” The Sniper” Loman, Geje “The Gravity” Eustaquio, and Jhanlo Mark” The Machine” Sangiao in a new perspective, both as warriors and actors.

In her Debut Film as a film actress, we are proud to feature one of our Exclusive Talents, the humble and multitalented “Face of Sine Cordillera”, Ms. Dexter Jaimie Tampoa. Featured also is Croatian-Filipino Actor, Mr. Mark Neumann. Both actors’ chemistry and acting prowess are to be anticipated.

“The Face of Sine Cordillera”, Ms. Dexter Jaimie Tampoa as Libnos
Libnos and General Wakai
Mark Neuman as General Wakai

We are most proud of the fact that the majority of the cast are Cordilleran, aside from Team Lakay, we are joined by our National Artist for Film, Tatak Kidlat Tahimik, with his special appearance as a supporting actor. We take pride in the fact that our work was acknowledged by Tatay Kidlat who gladly accepted our offer to join this passion project of ours. Other supporting actors include Mr. Rolly Badando, Mr. Kenneth Jhave Bautista, and Kapitan Peter Wasing, featured also are the PGT 2018 Golden Buzzer and Grand Finalists, the Bardillerans, our Singing Mineros who also composed our Official Soundtrack, and other Cordilleran talents.

1941: Cordillera Iti Ima ti Gubat is produced by Be Unrivaled Productions and Sine Cordillera with Direk Jianlin at the Forefront as the Executive Producer and Director of the Film. We are also joined by FPJ Ang Probinsyano’s Direk Perry De Guzman as Co-Director and Direk Atoy Devera as the Director of Photography. Direk Perry De Guzman wrote the script for the film while it was Co-written and translated by Direk Jianlin. Both Japanese and Kankanaey language were used in the film and 100% of the script in Japanese was translated by Direk Jianlin. With Direk’s knowledge of the Japanese Language’s Nuances, the authenticity, and genuineness of spoken lines are ensured. For the Kankaney language, we were helped by Mr. Rolly Badando and other elderly IPs (Indigenous Peoples).

With a 100 – 120 crew, we pushed through with the shooting of the film for a month amidst the rain and the various protocols of the pandemic. We overcome these challenges for the sake of art, for us to tell our narratives. In addition, one of the goals is to be able to reach more platforms, such as Netflix, for us to showcase the authenticity of our culture as well as the establishment of cultural awareness. We used 4k cameras to fit Netflix’s requirements and to ensure the best video quality to capture every scene.

The film shows the struggles and sacrifices of our ancestors during the Japanese Occupation Era. A part of the story revolves around the sacrifices of Libnos played by Ms. Dexter Tampoa, a cordillera woman, who sacrificed a lot to save her people. Our Cordilleran Warrior Spirit shone the brightest in this film through the performance of Team Lakay, as they fought for our land, freedom, and against all the atrocities done by various negative forces. Aside from the suffering that the people of Cordillera experienced at the hands of the Japanese, on a lighter note, the film also depicts the kindness of the Japanese people, that not all of those who invaded were as dreadful as presented in most war films.