Leonor Will Never Die

Leonor Reyes (Sheila Francisco) was once a major player in the Filipino film industry after creating a string of successful action films, but now her household, consisting of Leonor and her son Rudie, struggles to pay the bills. When she reads an advertisement looking for screenplays, Leonor begins tinkering with an unfinished script about the quest of young, noble Ronwaldo (Rocky Salumbides), forced to avenge his brother’s murder at the hand of thugs. While her imagination provides some escape from reality, an accident involving a television knocks her out and sends her into a coma. This transports Leonor inside the incomplete movie where she can play out her wildest dreams firsthand and discover the perfect ending to her story. Meanwhile, Rudie seeks to discover where his mother went.

{{Cast listing|{{Cast listing|

• Sheila Francisco as Leonor Reyes
• Bong Cabrera as Rudie Reyes
• Rocky Salumbides as Ronwaldo
• Anthony Falcon as Dead Ronwaldo
• Allan Bautista as Valentin
• Rea Molina as Isabella
• Ryan Eigenmann as Ricardo
• John Paulo Rodriguez as Junior
• Dido Dela Paz as Mayor
• Tami Monsod as Dra. Valdez

}}}}

The idea for the film came to Escobar when she was a young girl after action star-turned-politician Joseph Estrada was elected President of the Philippines. In the film's production notes, Escobar comments, "Today, decades later, after having two more ‘action star’ presidents [Estrada and the failed bid of Fernando Poe Jr.], I find myself questioning this absurd reality and am surprised by how easy it can be understood once I place it in parallel with our love for movies." After graduating from the University of the Philippines Diliman with a film degree, Escobar began working on the screenplay and continued to edit and revise it over the next eight years while she worked as a cinematographer on other films.{{Cite web|last=Liwag|first=Jason Tan|date=January 20, 2022|title=Creating the 'forever film' with Martika Ramirez Escobar|url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/movies/creating-forever-film-martika-ramirez-escobar/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Rappler}}{{Cite news|last=Policarpio|first=Allan|date=February 4, 2022|title=For 1st Pinoy feature filmmaker to win at Sundance Martika Ramirez Escobar, victory comes with a responsibility|url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/436268/for-1st-pinoy-feature-filmmaker-to-win-at-sundance-martika-ramirez-escobar-victory-comes-with-a-responsibilty|access-date=February 6, 2022|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} During that time, she also attended writing workshops of screenwriters Ricky Lee and Bong Lao.{{Cite web|last=Jaucian|first=Don|date=January 21, 2022|title=Into a Pinoy action film writer's mind with Martika Ramirez Escobar|url=https://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/Film/2022/1/21/martika-escobar-leonor-sundance-interview.html|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=CNN Philippines|archive-date=January 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131092031/https://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/Film/2022/1/21/martika-escobar-leonor-sundance-interview.html|url-status=dead}}

For the role of Leonor, Escobar was looking for "someone who feels like they fit in that macho world, with the intelligence and sharpness of a writer, and the tough tenderness of a mother." The film's producer, Monster Jimenez, recommended Sheila Francisco after seeing her in the stage musical drama Ang Huling El Bimbo.{{Cite web|last=Nepales|first=Ruben V.|date=January 21, 2022|title=A Pinay filmmaker on her clever, inventive Sundance entry|url=https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/movies/pinay-filmmaker-clever-inventive-sundance-entry/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Rappler}}

The film was shot in the Philippines from July to September 2019.{{Cite news|last=Asilo|first=Rito P.|date=December 13, 2021|title=From stage to Sundance: Sheila Francisco in uncharted territory|url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/429600/from-stage-to-sundance-sheila-francisco-in-uncharted-territory?fbclid=IwAR0HoKzMnGV-dD0oS0rktJwyLBQl1q4wBH7WxOgXltkt-dVVY2HiAumeXAE|access-date=February 6, 2022|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}} The film was supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) through its CreatePHFilms funding program and sponsored under its Full Circle Lab-Philippines development program.{{Cite web|date=December 23, 2021|title=Two Filipino films to compete in Sundance fest|url=https://manilastandard.net/showbitz/314024507/two-filipino-films-to-compete-in-sundance-fest.html|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Manila Standard}}

{{RT prose|91|7.30|34|A delightfully unique tribute to the transporting power of cinema, Leonor Will Never Die marks director/co-writer Martika Ramirez Escobar as a talent to watch.}}{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes |id=leonor_will_never_die |title=Leonor Will Never Die|type=m |access-date=February 14, 2023}} {{Metacritic film prose |score=72|count=12}}{{Cite Metacritic |id=leonor-will-never-die |title= Leonor Will Never Die|type=movie|access-date=February 14, 2023}}

In a wrap-up of Sundance, The New York Times film critic A.O. Scott calls the film "wonderfully unclassifiable" and says "the combination of family melodrama, pulpy violence and surreal comedy add up to the disarmingly tender portrait of an artist on the edge of the afterlife."{{Cite web|last1=Scott|first1=A. O.|last2=Dargis|first2=Manohla|date=February 1, 2022|title=Sundance Wrap-Up: 6 Movies We Like and One We Disagree on|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/01/movies/sundance-film-festival.html|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=The New York Times}} Marya Gates of RogerEbert.com says the film "establishes writer/director Martika Ramirez Escobar as an artist with a singular voice and bright future in halls of weird cinema," with Sheila Francisco "an utter delight as Leonor."{{Cite web|last=Gates|first=Marya E.|date=January 23, 2022|title=Sundance 2022: Leonor Will Never Die, Utama, You Won't Be Alone|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/festivals/sundance-2022-leonor-will-never-die-utama-you-wont-be-alone|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=RogerEbert.com}} In a mixed review, Amy Nicholson of Variety writes that it is "creative and clever – perhaps too clever" as towards the end of the film "the script’s ambitions have outreached its grasp, even with the formidable Francisco holding the stories’ layers together."{{Cite web|last=Nicholson|first=Amy|date=January 21, 2022|title='Leonor Will Never Die' Review: A Female Filmmaker Steers Her Own Story in a Kooky Filipino Meta-Film|url=https://variety.com/2022/film/reviews/leonor-will-never-die-review-1235154354/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Variety}}

Along with The New York Times, the film is considered one of the best films of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival by The Atlantic{{Cite web|last1=Li|first1=Shirley|last2=Sims|first2=David|date=January 28, 2022|title=16 Indie Films to Get Excited About This Year|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2022/01/best-indie-movies-sundance-film-festival/621384/|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=The Atlantic}} and Vogue.{{Cite web|date=January 28, 2022|title=The 13 Best Films From This Year's Sundance Film Festival|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/sundance-2022-best-films|access-date=February 6, 2022|website=Vogue}}

At Sundance, the film was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit. In recognition of the accolades of Leonor Will Never Die, as well as for the Short Film Grand Jury Prize-winner The Headhunter's Daughter, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chair Liza Diño-Seguerra described the moment as "Philippines Cinema's historic win at the Sundance," adding that the filmmakers are "writing history."{{Cite news|last=Policarpio|first=Allan|date=January 30, 2022|title=2 Filipino indie films bag 'historic' wins at Sundance|url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/435657/2-filipino-indie-films-bag-historic-wins-at-sundance|access-date=February 6, 2022|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer}}

• {{imdb title|16377714|Leonor Will Never Die|2022 film}}
• [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/leonor_will_never_die Leonor Will Never Die] at Rotten Tomatoes
• [https://www.musicboxfilms.com/film/leonor-will-never-die/ Leonor Will Never Die] at Music Box Films

Category:2022 comedy-drama films

Category:2022 films

Category:Philippine comedy-drama films

Category:Magic realism films

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Category:Anima (film company) films