"The jury awards Rafael Manuel's debut feature, Filipiñana, a striking and surreal exploration of class and adolescence set against the backdrop of one endless, blistering summer day on the expansive golf course of a luxurious Manila country club. Grounded in an impressively self-assured performance by Jorrybell Agoto, as a new employee – teeing up balls for the club's wealthy members – the film offers an epic look at the individuals who exist within the club's deeply-ingrained hierarchy. Its dazzlingly choreographed scenes of workers cleaning, caddying, and serving offer clever commentary on the monotony of daily labor and the literal rhythms of the club's social machinery, and build a continuous sense of unease and strangeness. A bold, ethereal explosion of the coming-of-age and eat-the-rich narratives that have become well-worn in modern cinema, the film's sumptuous, retrofuturist aesthetic is a visual delight that underlines its timelessness and Manuel's clear-eyed perspective. Devastatingly funny and utterly mesmerizing, Filipiñana showcases a promising new voice in international cinema."
