22nd New York Asian Film Festival

Jul 14-30, 2023

FilmsGuestsTalks & EventsSchedule & Tickets

Photo: © 2022 Digital Dreams production. Cinemalaya Foundation. All Rights Reserved

International Premiere

12 Weeks

12 weeks

Alice, a fiercely independent 40-year-old woman with a successful and noble career at an NGO, discovers she's pregnant. On the outs with her moody, high-maintenance ex-boyfriend, and with no interest in raising a child, she jumps through the requisite hoops to arrange a safe abortion in a devoutly pro-life nation where it is illegal. The refreshingly multidimensional characters and their complex interpersonal relationships in director Anna Isabelle Matutina’s bold debut cover all the points and counterpoints of this sensitive issue. Alice’s overbearing mother and baby’s daddy relentlessly browbeat her to change her mind, further exacerbating her existential dilemma in a telling microcosm of the country’s own hypocrisies and struggles. Max Eigenmann’s award-winning star turn as Alice effortlessly drives home the urgent clarion call of Matutina’s smart and uber-timely film.

Director: Anna Isabelle Matutina Estein
Cast: Max Eigenmann, Bing Pimentel, Vance Larena, Claudia Enriquez
Languages: Filipino, English with English subtitles
2022; 105 min.

SCHEDULE:

Wednesday July 26, 6:15pm
Film at Lincoln Center

Intro & Q&A with director Anna Isabelle Matutina.

Anna Isabelle Matutina Estein

Anna Isabelle Matutina is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, documentarian, and editor based in the Philippines. In 2004, she started writing, directing, producing, and editing her own short films, which have traveled around the world and won awards. Isabelle currently works as a director and editor for I-Witness, Philippines’ longest-running, multi-award-winning, television documentary program. In the 18 years she has worked on the show, Isabelle and her team have garnered multiple local and international awards including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award in 2009 and a nomination for an International Emmy in 2013. 12 Weeks is Isabelle's first feature film. It won the NETPAC Award and the Best Actress Award for Max Eigenmann at the 18th Cinemalaya Film Festival. It was also nominated for the Asian Next Wave Best Picture at the 10th QCinema International Film Festival.