Skip to main content
Leonor Will Never Die film image, director Martika Ramirez Escobar

Leonor Will Never Die

Ang Pagbabalik ng Kwago

This event has passed

Once a prominent action filmmaker, Leonor spends her senior years with the ghost of her dead son and the pestering, very alive presence of her younger son. In her cramped apartment, she distracts herself from overdue electricity bills by daydreaming about her movies, until a freak accident causes her to fall into a coma. In this liminal state, Leonor magically finds herself in the production of one of her own long-forgotten, unfinished screenplays, blurring the lines between reality and dream, life and death. Colourful, exuberant, packed with thrills and B-movie nostalgia, writer-director Martika Ramirez Escobar’s debut feature is an homage to the power of stories, the enduring force of grief, and a tender love letter to filmmaking itself. 2022 winner of the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit at Sundance.

Packed with self-reflexive humor and a deep reverence for the art of filmmaking, Leonor Will Never Die establishes writer/director Martika Ramirez Escobar as an artist with a singular voice and bright future in halls of weird cinema.”—Marya E. Gates, RogerEbert.com

 

Amplify Voices Award, TIFF 2022 & World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Innovative Spirit, Sundance 2022

 

Media Partner

Media Partner

Community Partner

Vancouver Foreign Film Society logo

Director
Cast

Sheila Francisco, Bong Cabrera, Rocky Salumbides, Anthony Falcon

Credits
Country of Origin

Philippines

Year

2022

Language

In Filipino and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Link
19+
99 min
Action & Suspense Award Winners Comedy Women Directors

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Angela's Shadow

Dir. Jules Arita Koostachin
93 min

When a socialite visits her nanny’s remote reserve, she discovers her Cree ancestry and delves into her new-found spiritual traditions to save herself and her newborn baby from her husband’s psychotic, and purity-obsessed racism.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Dir. James Griffiths
99 min

An odd couple comedy laced with lovely songs this is one of those little gems that don't come around very often. Charles wants to reunite his favourite band, and after winning the lottery he has the means to do it, whether they're ready or not.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Gondola
Gondola film image; two women staring intently at one another sitting in a gondola

Gondola

Dir. Veit Helmer
85 min

In this whimsical comedy two cable car conductors fall in love as they criss cross a beautiful Georgian valley every half hour.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
The Other
The Other film image; two people looking out at sandy dunes

The Other

Dir. Joy Sela
100 min

Filmed from 2017-2024, including post October 7 and during the subsequent war, Joy Sela's documentary is an inspiring testament to how human beings -- even in the worst circumstances -- can transcend difference to forge connection and understanding.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

A Place in the Sun

Dir. George Stevens
122 min

George (Montgomery Clift) takes a job in his uncle's firm. But before he can break into the family's charmed inner circle and fall in love with socialite Angela (Elizabeth Taylor), he becomes embroiled with a factory girl (Shelley Winters).

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Lust, Caution

Dir. Ang Lee
158 min

Each month we showcase a movie selected by one of our VIFF+ Premium members. This month, Shanwen Yan chooses Ang Lee's erotic WWII spy 2007 thriller, starring Tany Wei, Tony Leung and Joan Chen.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Credits

Executive Producer

Aurora Oreta, Martika Ramirez Escobar, Quark Henares

Producer

Monster Jimenez, Mario Cornejo

Screenwriter

Martika Ramirez Escobar

Cinematography

Carlos Mauricio

Editor

Lawrence S. Ang

Production Design

Eero Yves S. Francisco

Original Music

Alyana Cabral and Pan De Coco

Director

Martika Ramirez Escobar headshot, Leonor Will Never Die director

Martika Ramirez Escobar

Martika Ramirez Escobar was born in Manila in 1992. Her love for the bizarre is best reflected through her films and photography. After graduating with honours from the University of the Philippines, her thesis film Pusong Bato (2014) competed at the Busan International Film Festival and won Best Film at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Her short film Quadrilaterals (2017) premiered at the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival. She is currently working as a freelance director-cinematographer for various production houses in Manila.