Hollywood Reporter Reviews "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank", Philippine contender for Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film

BUSAN, South Korea — A mockumentary about filmmaking and a gritty-realist tragedy of child prostitution in a Manila slum are arguably two of the most je jeune offerings in a festival lineup. Philippine director Marlon Rivera exploits both these cliches to make The Woman in a Septic Tank – a lambast of the pretensions of independent cinema in his country and his fellow filmmakers’ inflated egos. With screenwriter-producer Chris Martinez (100, Here Comes the Bride) contributing juicy lines and a structured framework that’s the antithesis of the rambling, “real-time” works being sent-up, witty, bitchy and cine-literate Woman is among the most outstanding directorial debuts in Philippine cinema this year.

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