June 13 sees the slightly delayed Manila release of the new movie by one of the Philippines' up-and-coming movie talents, Ato Bautista, whose coruscating self-produced debut Awaken (Sa Aking Pagkakagising Mula sa Kamulatan) is soon to be available on demand on Firecracker TV.
Blackout is a taut and atmospheric psycho-thriller that marks an important development in the current wave of impressive low-budget features. As Bautista attests in a forthcoming Firecracker interview, the budget for Blackout was pretty low indeed, but you'd have no idea to look at the result. Made by Unitel Pictures, and featuring local action star Robin Padilla, Blackout may be the movie to break Bautista into the mainstream of Filipino movie makers - if the release's proximity to Philippine Independence Day on June 12 doesn't compromise matters - and with luck also make his name internationally.
The release of Blackout on home turf has been delayed for a while, during which time the prolific Bautista - and his collaborator, writer Shugo Praico - turned out experimental digital feature Cure For Boredom which showed in last Autumn's Cinemanila festival.
See the Blackout trailer here via the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, where it received its North American premiere.
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