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Romnick Sarmenta and Elijah Canlas headline Filipino best film winner in Europe; now a Summer MMFF official entry

03.17.23
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“We often lie to make ourselves interesting, thereby twisting and repurposing truths to sway people to our side,” says Director Jun Lana regarding the premise of his psychological thriller.

About Us But Not About Us, the psychological thriller by Jun Robles Lana that critics in Europe hailed as an "unexpected real-time masterpiece," will finally screen here in the Philippines via the Summer edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival this April 8.

Featuring brilliant performances by Romnick Sarmenta and Elijah Canlas, this Filipino film won Critics’ Picks Best Film at the 27^th PÖFF Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, one of the largest A-list film festivals in Europe.

The film tells the story of Eric, a literature professor at the English Department of the University of the Philippines, who meets up with his student and rumored lover, Lancelot, months after the suicide of Marcus, a celebrated Filipino writer best known for his novels in English, and Eric's longtime partner.

As their conversation becomes more detailed and complicated, secrets and lies will be unearthed and the sinister nature of their identities will be revealed while they all wrestle with the truth.

About Us But Not About Us was also an official selection at the 43^rd Fantasporto in Portugal and the 30^th Queer Screen Mardi Gras Film Festival in Sydney.

“Lana’s impeccable writing is interpreted beautifully by both actors, a pair of exceptional performances that stand on the edge of complete eruption,” says one review by the International Cinephile Society.

Writer and Director Jun Robles Lana admits About Us But Not About Us is a very personal film for him.

“We often lie to make ourselves interesting, thereby twisting and repurposing truths to sway people to our side,” says Lana in his Director’s Statement. “Could the sum of our being be made up of nothing but false narratives and distorted memories?”

About Us But Not About Us, which opens April 8 in cinemas nationwide, is an official entry to the first Summer Metro Manila Film Festival. It is a production of Octobertrain Films, The IdeaFirst Company, and Quantum Films.