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LUNA Y SALVACION

By Frank David FABROS

Art - Culture - Development 2023

2019- A Filipina domestic helper based in Madrid unknowingly inherits a priceless but haunted artwork created by the Filipino master painter Juan Luna whose magnificent career in 19th Century Europe was marred by a shocking double murder case in Paris.

- Year of production
- 2023
- Genres
- Art - Culture, Crime, Drama
- Countries
- PHILIPPINES, SPAIN
- Languages
- FILIPINO, SPANISH, FRENCH
- Budget
- 1 - 3 M$
- Duration
- 120 mn
- Director(s)
- Frank David FABROS
- Writer(s)
- Rodolfo VERA
- Cast
- Angel AQUINO
- Producer(s)
- Jimmy YIM, Harry VELASCO, Evelyn VARGAS, William SUA, Badette MARIANO
- Synopsis
- Juan Luna bests hundreds of other artists all over Europe, as his painting "El Spoliarium" wins the highest honor (the first Gold Medal) at the prestigious 1884 Exposicion de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain. His Filipino compatriots use Luna's international fame to further their nationalistic efforts to uplift the image and stature of the "indio" natives of the Spanish colony of the Philippines -- for the first time, the colonial subject is at par with the master. Luna wins the favor of Spanish royalty, and goes to live in the modern capital of Paris, where he meets and marries the Parisian filipina Paz Pardo de Tavera. His glimmering achievement will be shattered when Luna, in a jealous fit of insane rage, kills his wife Paz and his mother-in-law Julianna, in their Paris home. At Luna's trial, his defense was based on his race's "savagery" -- a label he and many Filipinos fought to disprove for years. Fast-forward to 2019, the filipina domestic caregiver Salvacion, upon the death of her beloved mistress Purita who gifts her with a rolled-up canvas among other heirlooms, comes home to the Philippines. With a family she could barely relate to, and mounting poverty, she is forced to sell the painting for a measly sum. The painting turns out to be a priceless Juan Luna painting, unknown to Salvacion. The painting was set for auction when an appraiser declared it fake, and it quickly lost its value. In the final scenes where the said painting appears in 19th century Paris, when Paz' brother Trinidad burns all the Luna paintings in the fireplace in sheer grief, Salvacion's painting will be the only one spared from total incineration - a portrait of Paz that lived to tell her story of Luna's obsessive love for her.
- Production schedule
- Pre-Production - April 2017
  Principal Photography - September-November 2017
  Post Production - December 2016-January 2017
  Target Release - February 2017
- Beginning of shooting
- Sep 01, 2017
- End of shooting
- Dec 31, 2017