The Mouthless Protagonist of Cinemalaya's First Full-Length Animated Film Explores Trauma

From August 4 through August 13, the 19th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival will begin screening in nearby theaters. Iti Mapukpukaw (The Missing), which will be the first-ever full-length animated film to compete at Cinemalaya, is one of the most eagerly awaited entries for 2023.

What this film is all about and why you should watch it Iti Mapukpukaw (The Missing) chronicles the ups and downs of Eric's life after the appearance of a recognizable alien and the passing of his uncle, both of which cause Eric to recall his history. Did you know that Eric is mouthless?

It took director and writer Carl Joseph Papa more than ten years to reach the Cinemalaya finals. Papa is a software engineer who "likes to make films every now and then." But don't mistake him for a newbie. With multiple films on his resume (but more on that later), Papa is far from it.

Carlo Aquino, Gio Gahol, and Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee Dolly de Leon are the leads of the Filipino-Ilocano animated feature, which also counts filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone as one of its executive producers.

A Carl Papa-directed Filipino animated film titled Iti Mapukpukaw (The Missing) examines how tragedy impacts people's daily lives. Rotoscope and classic 2D hand sketching are the two styles of animation used in the movie.

Papa used Rotoscope to convey Eric's mental condition without using words, as opposed to typical 2D hand-drawn animation, which brings back childhood memories and nostalgia. Even though the movie was only made in four days, the Project 8 Projects team needed more than a year to finish the editing. Sincere in its treatment of delicate subjects, the movie reportedly caused Papa to cry multiple times while being filmed.

It is already Papa's third full-length animated picture and the first from Cinemalaya. It is a ground-breaking full-length animation film from Cinemalaya.

Via Spot.ph