''Birdshot'' is a 2016 Philippine

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

written, directed and edited by

Mikhail Red Mikhail Red is a Filipinos, Filipino filmmaker. He is best known for his films ''Birdshot (film), Birdshot'' (2016), ''Eerie (film), Eerie'' (2019), and ''Dead Kids (film), Dead Kids'' (2019), which was the first ever Netflix original film from t ...

. Starring Mary Joy Apostol, Arnold Reyes, Ku Aquino, and

John Arcilla Romeo Gonzales Arcilla (born June 24 1966), professionally known as John Arcilla, is a Filipino actor and environmentalist. He won Best Actor at the 78th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in '' On the Job: The Missing 8 ...

, its story revolves around a farm girl (Apostol) in the countryside, who unwittingly kills a

Philippine eagle The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has br ...

(an endangered species locally known as the ''haribon''), and two police officers (Reyes and Arcilla) assigned to track down the haribon's killer while investigating the mysterious disappearance of a busload of farmers en route to Manila. The film was selected as the Filipino entry for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

90th Academy Awards The 90th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2017, and took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The ceremony was held on March 4, ...

, but it was not nominated. ''Birdshot'' is the first Filipino film released worldwide by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

Plot

Diego Mariano (Ku Aquino) is the caretaker of the land surrounding a sanctuary; he is the father of 14-year-old Maya (Mary Joy Apostol), whose mother died from childbirth. Maya wants to explore the land beyond the family's isolated shack. Diego wants his daughter to be self-sufficient, so he teaches her to fire a gun. After failing her first shooting lessons, Maya wanders off to the forest sanctuary with her father's dual barrel shotgun and deliberately kills a

, an endangered animal. Meanwhile, newly-recruited police officer Domingo (Arnold Reyes) goes to the area to investigate the mysterious disappearance of farmers en route to Manila on a bus, but is ordered to stop. Domingo's partner Mendoza (

) and their commander De la Paz (Dido de la Paz) believes that Domingo should focus on finding the killer of the Philippine eagle instead.

Cast

*Mary Joy Apostol as Maya *Arnold Reyes as Domingo *

as Mendoza *Ku Aquino as Diego

Production

''Birdshot'' was directed by Mikhail Red who also made the screenplay with cousin Rae Red. Red was also the

film editor Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film which increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film ed ...

opposite Jay Halili. The cinematographer was Mycko David. The music used in the film was composed by Teresa Barrozo. Red and his cousin began writing the script in 2014. Producer Pamela L. Reyes submitted it to the

Doha Film Institute Doha Film Institute (DFI) is a nonprofit cultural organisation established in 2010 by Sheikha Al-Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani to support the growth of the Qatari film community and to provide funding and international networking oppo ...

which in early 2015 granted production funding for the film. After winning the CJ Entertainment Award at the

Busan Film Festival The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF, previously Pusan International Film Festival, PIFF), held annually in Haeundae-gu, Busan (''also'' Pusan), South Korea, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. The first festiv ...

's Asian Project Market, other investors granted funding, including TBA Studios. The film project was selected at the

Festival des 3 Continents The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau. The total budget of the film was . Red was inspired by a shooting incident in 2008, where a three-year-old

was shot by a

Bukidnon Bukidnon(), officially the Province of Bukidnon ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bukidnon; fil, Lalawigan ng Bukidnon; hil, Kapuroan sang Bukidnon; Binukid and Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the ...

farmer in

Mount Kitanglad Mount Kitanglad is an inactive volcano located in the Kitanglad Mountain Range in Bukidnon province on Mindanao island. It is the fourth highest mountain in the Philippines and has an approximate height of . It is located between Malaybalay City ...

who cooked the killed bird afterwards.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

lasted for 23 days. Scenes were shot in the provinces of Isabela (province), Isabela and Rizal as well as the Philippine Eagle Sanctuary in Davao City. The color red is a prominent element in the film which signifies an important scene or pertinent detail that the audience is required to pay closer attention to.

Release

''Birdshot'' was first screened at film festivals outside the Philippines before it was screened in the country. The film made its debut at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival and was screened in 14 other film festivals before it made its local debut at the 13th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in August of the following year. The film was also screened as one of the twelve official entries at the 2017 Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino. Streaming service

acquired the film and was released on the platform on March 26, 2018 worldwide. ''Birdshot'' will become the first Filipino produced film to be made available in Netflix Philippines. Another Philippine film, ''On the Job (2013 film), On the Job'', was already made available in the North America service of the online platform.

Reception

Film critic Richard Kuipers praised ''Birdshot'' in a review published in ''Variety (magazine), Variety'' describing the film as a "gripping combination of police procedural and coming-of-age story, coming-of-age drama". He paralleled the film's commentary to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and remarked on Apostol's performance in particular as "impressive". Additional praise was also given by Kuiper to Teresa Barrozo's "haunting soundscapes". The film won Best Picture in the Asian Future category at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival and was selected for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the Gothenburg Film Festival, Goteborg Film Festival.

References

External links

* * * {{Philippine submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film 2016 films Films shot in Isabella (province) Films shot in Rizal Philippine coming-of-age films Films directed by Mikhail Red