MANILA – October 8, 2013 – Award-winning filmmaker Brillante Mendoza’s Sapi, to be released in November, has its share of frightful spirits. But the real horrors lie not in the unseen, but in the everyday world.
"While Sapi attempts to frighten and shock the audiences to an extent, my purpose as a filmmaker is less of leading the viewers to shut their eyes out of fear, but more of, hopefully, helping them open their eyes to the reality," Mendoza said in his director’s statement.
Written by Henry Burgos, Sapi tells the story of Sarimanok Broadcasting Network’s trainee TV executive producer Meryll Flores and reporter Dennis Marquez, who team up to document an actual spiritual possession in order to beat the rival network, Philippine Broadcasting Channel.
However, the odds are not in their favor, as PBC cameraman Baron Valdez is able to capture an isolated case of demonic possession.
In Sapi, Flores buys outtakes of the possession from Valdez, but finds herself caught in an exorcising reality, the film’s synopsis read.
"Sapi chronicles the haunted lives of the individual working for media, consumed by the pressure of TV ratings and network rivalries, and later obsessed with their coverage of a woman possessed by a spirit. It is a story of the people who do not just have a fervent faith in God, but recognizes Evil just as well. but more than being a multi character sketch, this is an essay of a culture severely dependent on a decaying mass media whose integrity is hereby put under scrutiny," Mendoza said.
Meryll Soriano plays Meryll Flores, Dennis Trillo plays Dennis Marquez, and Baron Geisler plays Baron Valdez.
Produced by Solar Entertainment, Sapi will be released on November 6, 2013.
