LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE

Preceded by free screening of the 2003 feature Lumpia and a reception for all ticket-holders

Audience Award, Narrative Feature, 2020 Hawaii International Film Festival

After two decades, things have changed in Fogtown. Goofy teenagers and bullies alike have grown and gotten their lives together. James aka Mon Mon has a teenage daughter Rachel (played by April Absynth) at Fogtown High, who dreams of fighting villains alongside Mon Mon’s superhero friend Kuya, played by former UFC fighter Mark Muñoz. While the bullies have moved on, Kuya uncovers a black market of drug-laced lumpia hitting the streets. When he’s framed as the scheme’s mastermind, Rachel steps up to help her father’s superhero.

Patricio Ginelsa returns to SDAFF with this updated love letter to his hometown of Daly City, leaning into a comedic micro-universe that resonated so powerfully with audiences in the 2003 homemade feature Lumpia. LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE arrives in a different era of the comic book film genre, but one that embraces the spirit of physical comics, with page flips narrated again by Joy Bisco (The Debut, SDAFF 2000). With many more years of experience, Ginelsa has upped his game, flaunting expanded sets, updated visual effects, and even a notable Hollywood cameo by Danny Trejo (Machete, Desperado). While playfully poking fun at how far his characters have come, Ginelsa, like his characters, has also grown, giving us a film that updates the cultural humor of being Filipino American for a new decade.

—Erwin Mendoza

Every ticketholder will receive a free digital comic book of LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE: PRELUDE, sporting the SAN DIEGO premiere variant cover by artist Patrick Ballesteros. You can also pre-order the HOLOFOIL printed edition for a limited time here. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Pacific Arts Movement.