Bona

Best Actress, 1981 Gawad Urian Awards
Official Selection, Cannes Classics, 2024 Cannes Film Festival

New 4K version restored by Kani Releasing and Carlotta Films at the Cité de Mémoire laboratory using the original 35mm film and sound negatives archived by LTC Patrimoine. The audio was restored by L.E. DIAPASON.

Blinded by admiration, Bona drops out of high school and leaves her middle-class family to serve the object of her desire, Gardo, an actor trapped in a cycle of failure as an extra. Defying her parents’ demands, Bona insists on living with Gardo in the slums. There, she enjoys serving him and giving him baths. But Gardo does not return the love. As he parties with his friends and brings home other women, Bona continues to look at him with infatuation and longing. Everyone around her sees that she has become his “slave,” but she refuses to listen. Until finally, she wakes up from her fantasy.

Originally released in 1980, BONA has been largely unseen for over 40 years. Thanks to Professor Jose B. Capino’s discovery and Cité de Mémoire’s digital restoration from the original film prints, we can now witness this masterpiece of Philippine cinema directed by Lino Brocka, one of the most influential filmmakers of the Ferdinand Marcos era. Nora Aunor’s award-winning performance as Bona beautifully embodies the film’s layered meanings, revealing the reality behind the glitz and glamor of the film industry – a metaphor for Marcos’ martial law and the American Dream.

A timely commentary on fandom and celebrity, obsession and illusions of love, blind faith and idolatry, BONA provides a glimpse into the struggles and dreams of Filipino people who have been marginalized by society.

– Noelle Sepina