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05 Die Beautiful
The Philippines
Comedy / Drama / HD / Tagalog / 90 mins
Jun Robles LANA
Director: Jun Robles LANA
Producers: Ferdinand LAPUZ, Perci INTALAN
HAF Goals: Funds, Co-producers
Budget: US$200,000
Secured Budget: US$20,000
Director’s Filmography:
2015 Shadow Behind The Moon (In post-production)
2014 So It’s You
2013 Barber’s Tales
2012 Bwakaw
2011 Yesterday Today Tomorrow
A transgender woman’s dying wish to be dressed as Lady Gaga for her funeral sparks a fierce battle
between her conservative Filipino-Chinese family and her well-meaning drag queen friends.
Synopsis
in heaven to meet Jewel… in really bad wigs. This
is every drag queen’s worst nightmare. This dream
makes them certain that Jewel’s spirit is unhappy.
It is a tragic and untimely death. But to her drag
queen friends, Zsa Zsa, Cher and Rihanna, there is
some consolation that she died with a crown on
her head, judged the most beautiful of them all.
To placate her soul and fulfill their promise, the
three decide to steal Jewel’s body and bring her all
the way back to an undisclosed location in Manila to
give her the wake she deserves.
They also wonder if Jewel had an inkling of
her death. Just weeks before, she gave specific
instructions for a wake that would last a full week,
where she should be dressed as a different celebrity
each night. This meant a promise that her friends
did not then realise would be difficult to keep.
Each day as promised, they dress her up as one of
the famous celebrities she impersonated. And with
her every transformation, we, as an audience, see
glimpses of her life – the good and the bad – in the
form of flashbacks and memories, even daydreams
and fantastical musings by Jewel’s drag queen
friends. It’s an emotional 7-day wake that is by turns
funny and poignant, revealing life-affirming truths
about our common struggle for individuality, identity
and happiness.
Upon Jewel’s death, her estranged Filipino-Chinese
father immediately collects her remains. He then
takes her back to her deeply conservative family
who never comes to terms with her sexuality and
still refers to her as Joel. Worse, the family tells
relatives half-truths about how she lived and how
she died.
Zsa Zsa, Cher and Rihanna surreptitiously visit
Jewel’s wake in her hometown province and are
shocked to see Jewel makeup-less and looking plain
and every inch like an emaciated man.
That night, Zsa Zsa, Cher and Rihanna are plagued
with the same dream: all three of them show up
As I was writing, news regarding the death of
Filipino transgender woman Jennifer Laude at
the hands of a U.S. marine sparked widespread
debates about the situation facing many transgender
people in the Philippines. An officer of the Armed
Forces of the Philippines was quoted as saying that
human rights groups condemning the murder were
overreacting. Meanwhile, the LGBT community, as
with most people in social media, was enraged.
Jennifer’s tragic death, and our government’s
reluctance to confront it, strengthened my
resolve to tackle the complex, difficult struggles of
transgender people. However, since I did not want
to be heavy-handed and sensational, I sought other
ways of telling the story.
I have always found it ironic that in most cases, in
order to best appreciate a life, we have to look at
it in the context of death. Death is said to be the
great equalizer that comes for rich or poor, famous
or unknown, men and women alike. This became
the entry point to how I wanted to tell the story of
Jewel. Just as Jewel challenged conventions during
her life, I wanted to show how she continued to do
so even in death.
For the seven rather unusual days of her funeral
service, as she is transformed into various personas,
we see each chapter of her colorful life unfold.
I want to show a life filled with as much joy and
laughter as it was peppered with pain and sorrow.
These are the triumphs and failures of someone
who dared go to extremes to challenge social
norms.
Technicolor Award and the HAF Award at the 11th
Hong Kong-Asia Financing Forum and premiered at
the 26th Tokyo International Film Festival. In 2012,
he directed the critically-acclaimed Bwakaw, selected
as the Philippines’ submission to the 84th Academy
Awards.
Producers
Ferdinand LAPUZ
Ferdinand LAPUZ migrated to Canada in 1990
where he promoted Filipino films until he returned
in 2005. LAPUZ attended HAF in 2008 for Brillante
MENDOZA’s Serbis, 2009 for MENDOZA’s Kinatay
and Francis Xavier PASION’s Sampaguita, 2011 for
Jeffrey JETURIAN’s Bisperas, 2012 for Eduardo ROY
JR.’s Lola Igna and 2013 for Jun Robles LANA’s
Barber’s Tales. Serbis and Kinatay competed in
Cannes. Bwakaw (2012) began his collaboration
with LANA.
Perci INTALAN
Co-producer Perci INTALAN is a veteran TV
producer; he just released his debut feature-length
film, Dementia.
Production Company
Octobertrain Films
Octobertrain Films was started by Jun Robles
LANA to produce his independent film projects. It
has already produced four feature films, Roxxxanne
(2007), Bwakaw (2012), Barber’s Tales (2013) and
Dementia (2014).
And in the end, I hope to show that, despite many
different circumstances, Jewel is really not that
different from the rest of us – an individual in search
of happiness – perhaps just a bit more extraordinary
and a shade more beautiful.
Director
Jun Robles LANA
Born 1972 in Makati City, LANA graduated from
the University of Santo Tomas and became the
youngest Filipino inducted in the Palanca Awards,
the Philippines’ most prestigious Literary Contest.
His Barber’s Tales won the ARRI Award, the
Contact
Jun Robles LANA
Octobertrain Films
Unit 2303 Emerald Mansion,
Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City,
the Philippines 1605
Tel: +63-9188102302
Email: [email protected],
[email protected]
HONG KONG - ASIA FILM FINANCING FORUM 2015
HONG KONG - ASIA FILM FINANCING FORUM 2015
60
Jewel is a Filipino transgender woman and celebrity
impersonator who dies of a heart attack while being
crowned Miss Trans Manila 2014.
Director’s Statement
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