Opening of the 35. Hamburg International Queer Film Festival
Film: ASOG
Dates
10/15/24
7:30 PM
Alan Cumming, Executive DirectorASOG is the film we need right now. It is full of such passion and urgency and humour and love that it gurgles out of the screen and into your soul. I want every single person I know and many, many I don’t to see this thing of scarred beauty and queer, savage joy.
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A teacher and a former pupil set off on a road trip together - initially by chance - on which they soon find themselves connected by more than just their destination. Along the way, they meet people, stories and shattered dreams. Typhoon Yolande has changed life in the Philippines. The prospect of profits attracts capitalists who are not interested in reconstruction after the natural disaster, but in personal enrichment. At the same time, a closer look reveals the urges of social resistance and regeneration. Together, the two travellers experience a road trip of big and small steps, a meandering through the archipelago of the Philippines, destroyed plans and new dreams, Filipino mythology and the secrets of the beauty queens.Asog shows a journey with a clear destination and many (detours). All the actors experienced Typhoon Yolande themselves and Asog combines fictional and documentary elements in a touching way that brings us very close to the stories and characters. Co-writers Arnel Pablo and Rey ‘Jaya’ Aclao (lead role and screenplay) rethink the idea of the road movie with this film, blurring boundaries, surprising and making you think as well as laugh. Asog seeks and finds solidarity in the midst of struggle.
ASOG: Sean Devlin, 2023, Philippines, Canada, USA, 101 min; original version in Tagalog and English with German and English subtitles.
