Latay (Battered Husband)
The doors are closed. There are no more screenings of this film.
Synopsis: Lando, a laid-back fisherman, enjoys joining the yearly “Aguman Sanduk” fellowship cross-dressing festivity with his peers of Alpha males as an enjoyable rest & recreation. Meanwhile, his mundane-everyday-life back in his isolated hut surrounded by fish pond waters, is beset with a horrifying secret about him being physically abused by his wife, beating him to the pulp and sometimes degrades him verbally to no remorse, whenever they have an argument; constantly about women link to him.
Lando’s wife, Lori is due to leave for abroad as a domestic helper. She harbors ill-feelings against Lando whom she caught meeting up with his ex-girlfriend in a rendezvous. Her unusual violent streak becomes acceptably normal to Lando, who easily yields to his guilt. In the last 2 days before she leaves for abroad, Laura and Lando sum up their differences as regrettably inconsolable. In a heated passionate moment of desire, Laura steps back upon realizing that she doesn’t love Lando anymore.
On Laura’s send off, Lando brews a best-laid-plan to himself, a solution which he believes will solve their irreconcilable differences forever. While rowing a banca ride with Lori on the river, all he thought of is to be with Laura despite her resistance. He’s so consumed with this romantic notion that he just stops rowing the boat and let go of the paddle. He either will have her or lose her to death according to his own violent terms. It doesn’t matter how bizarre the expression of loving her would mean by killing her instantly.
Language
Run Time
Starring
Lovie Poe (Lorie)
Snooky Serna (Mother of Lorie)
Mariel de Leon (Cherry)
Soliman Cruz (Father of Olan)
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Ferdinand Lapuz
Executive Producer
Director's Statement
The production took more than a year before completion, as my team waited for the pledged funding to come from our producer, who was doing multiple film projects at the same time. We constantly monitored the looks and body built of the lead actors, to maintain continuity. The selfless commitment and professionalism of the actors, including that of the staff and crew’s, were just on point that everything went smooth as realized, when we resumed principal photography after a year.
Director's Bio
RALSTON GONZALES JOVER was born on November 17, 1965. He studied filmmaking with screenwriting as major at the Mowelfund Film Institute in Manila. He has worked for television stations and film outfits in Manila as a screenwriter for the past 16 years.
In 2006, he wrote his very first screenplay, KUBRADOR by Jeffrey Jeturian which won the Fipresci award in Moscow.
He also wrote Brillante Mendoza’s TIRADOR which won the Caligari Prize in Berlin’s Forum and FOSTER CHILD which was shown in the Director’s Fortnight in 2007.
In 2009, he made his debut film, BAKAL BOYS (Children Metal Divers). It went to several European and North American Film Festival and won awards in Torino, Vancouver, Thessaloniki and Skip City-Tokyo.
His film HAMOG (2015) won the Artistic Contribution at the Shanghai International Film Festival and Silver St. George Best Actress Award in Moscow in the same year.
In 2017, BOMBA won the Special Jury Award for Acting at the Warsaw International Film Festival.