Editor’s note: This article has been edited to update the premiere dates.
This is not a drill, folks. Following “Deleter’s” award-sweeping moment at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival, director Mikhail Red and Nadine Lustre are once again crafting something big for us.
In a press conference on Feb. 16, Mikhail unveiled the first two projects he is working on under Viva Films in partnership with his newly helmed production company, Evolve Studios.
First in the 2023 roster is “Nokturno,” which, reports say, is about “a primal and supernatural curse” that haunts a rural Filipino family and a daughter who fled the country to live abroad.
Nadine is the only confirmed cast member as of this writing.
The second project lined up is “Helel,” which translates to “shining one” in Hebrew. We have yet to find out about its cast and other details but all we know so far is that it’s a science fiction-spiritual horror tale set in the near future that’ll spotlight a “Filipina astronaut who encounters the devil.” The upcoming film is set to premiere in 2024, according to Mikhail.
With the ambition of making his partnership with Viva Films a global brand, Mikhail hopes to create “Filipino genre work that we can proudly share with international audiences.”
Any hypotheses about the films you have in mind? Tweet us at @scoutmagph.
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Stills from “Deleter” trailer and Mikhail Red’s Facebook page