A new documentary about the Philippines’ former first lady Imelda Marcos is set to hit the big screen this fall, Showtime announced on Monday, Sept. 30.
“The Kingmaker” by Emmy winning director Lauren Greenfield (“The Queen of Versailles”) will open in theaters at the Quad in New York City and Laemmle’s Royal Theater in Los Angeles on Friday, November 8.
The trailer, which was released on Monday, shows intimate access into the Marcos family’s return to power in the Philippines, exploring the administration of Imelda’s late husband Ferdinand to present day, as she helps her son Bongbong win the vice presidency.
“To this end, Imelda confidently rewrites her family’s history of corruption, replacing it with a narrative of a matriarch’s extravagant love for her country. In an age when fake news manipulates elections, the Marcos family’s comeback story serves as a dark fairy tale,” said a press release from Showtime, which is teaming up with Greenwich Entertainment for theatrical distribution.
The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, was named to the DOC NYC Short List and has been traveling the festival circuit to sold-out houses with premieres at the Telluride Film Festival, TIFF and Camden International Film Festival.
“In my documentary photography about wealth I have always been interested in Imelda Marcos as an iconic historical figure. When I discovered that she had created an island of African animals in the South China Sea — an island that serves as [a] metaphor through ‘The Kingmaker’ — it was my dream to film her and the animal island,” Greenfield told Women and Hollywood. “I was fascinated by the way she was able to return to the Philippines and become a Congresswoman after being thrown out of the country in 1986, and the fact that both she and the animals had survived despite their circumstances.”
The film will continue to play at festivals across the country before this theatrical run begins.
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