Aberya (2013)

Director
Christian Linaban

Main cast
Mercedes Cabral; Will Devaughn; Iwa Moto; Nicholas Varela; Publio Briones III

Genres
Drama

Description
ABERYA (literally, “disruption” or “malfunction” from Tagalog) is a time-tripping, psychedelic acid noir following four overlapping stories in the seamy, steamy “Queen City” of the Philippines, Cebu. It’s the first feature from self-taught Filipino director Christian Linaban, who’s ready to do anything and everything to up his city and his country’s cinematic profile on the international stage, from crowdfunding his movie online to creating a gorgeous tie-in graphic novel. Utilizing a ragtag crew who work outside the slicker Manila film industry, his drive to tell his story by any means necessary infuses every frame of his film with a raw, pulsating indie spirit. The cutting is ragged, the lighting vividly garish, the garage band FX rough, ready, and utterly winning. The sum of its elements form an unholy alchemy that produces some the most immediate and vibrant cinema of the Philippines, like the crack baby love child of Aleister Crowley and Darren Aronofsky.


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