The Rose of Manila Close

An imagining of the formative years of Imelda Marcos, who, as one half of the Marcos regime, would become infamous for embezzling billions from the country to sustain her extravagant lifestyle. Here, the fate of a young girl and an entire nation become entangled as the absent mother of a country is born.

Super 16mm and HD video, 12 minutes. 2020.

Distributed by Dedza Films and Kino Lorber. Available on the Criterion Channel from 2021-2024. Please get in touch for exhibition history.

Supplemental texts:

1. Electric-Blue Flash, published in Wen Zhuang's newsletter A Fountain, 2020
2. Time Is a Spiral, an interview with Anabelle Johnston in The College Hill Independent, 2022