Quezon's Game

Quezon's Game is a 2018 Philippine biographical drama film directed by Matthew Rosen. The film centers around Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon and his plan to shelter German and Austrian Jews in the Philippines who were fleeing from Nazi Germany during the pre-World War II era.

Quezon's Game
Directed byMatthew Rosen
Produced by
Written by
  • Janice Y. Perez
  • Dean Rosen
StarringRaymond Bagatsing
Music byDean Rosen
Production
companies
  • ABS-CBN Film Productions
  • Kinitek Productions
Distributed byStar Cinema
Release date
  • 16 December 2018 (2018-12-16) (Canada)
  • 29 May 2019 (2019-05-29) (Philippines)
Running time
125 minutes
CountryPhilippines
Language
  • Filipino
  • English
Budget₱25 million
($500 thousand)

Premise

In 1938, Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon, his military adviser Dwight Eisenhower along with other notable figures set out to rescue Jewish refugees fleeing from Nazi Germany. Quezon also simultaneously deals with a relapse of tuberculosis.[1]

Cast

Production

Quezon's Game is a joint venture production of Star Cinema, iWant,[2] and Kinetek.[3] The film was directed by Matthew Rosen who is British-Jewish,[4] and the film had a production budget of US$500 thousand. The film produced in color runs for 125 minutes and is filmed in English, Spanish, and Tagalog. Production was finished by October 15, 2018.[1] Rosen spent three months on casting for the film alone.[4]

Lorena and Matthew Rosen were responsible for the film's original story idea while Janice Y. Perez and Dean Rosen wrote the screenplay. The film was produced to tell of a relatively unknown account of President Manuel L. Quezon rescuing Jewish refugees from the Holocaust and temporarily providing them shelter in the Philippines. One of the challenges the writers dealt with during Quezon's Game's research phase was the lack of Filipino historical manuscripts tackling the historical account. They referred to theses and dissertations made by Americans, and corresponded with the descendants of Alex and Herbert Frieder who played a major role in Quezon's plan.[5]

Rosen who is an immigrant who moved to the Philippines in the 1980s, became aware of President Quezon's plan after he learned that his Filipino wife know the lyrics to "Hava Nagila" and local children could sing the folk song despite none of them being aware of its Jewish origin. Rosen started inquiring a synagogue and its museum in Manila in 2009 which led him to learning about President Quezon's plan for Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.[6]

Release

Quezon's Game was released in various international film festivals prior to its theatrical release. It was released in Ottawa, Canada as part of the gala event of the 2018 Cinema World Festival as one of the winning films of the 2018 Autumn Selection.[2] It was also an entry in the IndieFEST Film in California, and the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in Texas.[7]

As part of the film's promotion, a VIP screening was held on May 7, 2019 at the Power Plant Mall in Makati where ABS-CBN also presented video interviews of Holocaust Survivors Margot Pins Kestenbaum and Max Weissler, who were both provided shelter in the Philippines by Manuel Quezon and currently reside in Israel.[7] The film's theatrical release in the Philippines was on May 29, 2019.[4]

Spin-off

There will be a documentary series in iWant called The Last Manilaners: A Quezon’s Game Documentary which tells about the Jews who went to the Philippines describing their experience of prosecution and conflict in Nazi Germany and found new life.[8]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 43% of 21 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review.[9] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[10]

The film won at least 20 awards as an entry in various international film festivals.[7] In January 2019, Quezon's Game won 12 accolades at the Cinema World Fest Awards in Ottawa, Canada.[11][2][11]

Year Award-Giving Body Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref
2018 Cinema World Fest Awards[2] Award of Merit for Drama FeatureQuezon's GameWon [12]
Award of Recognition for DirectingMatthew RosenWon
Award of Excellence for ActorRaymund BagatsingWon
Award of Excellence for ActressRachel AlejandroWon
Award of Excellence for Supporting ActorBilly GallionWon
Award of Excellence for LightingMatthew Rosen
Leo Santos		Won
Award of Excellence for Original ScoreDean RosenWon
Award of Excellence for Produced ScreenplayJanice Perez
Dean Rosen		Won
Award of Excellence for Set DesignRowella Talusig
Set Construction Group		Won
Award of Excellence for Sound DesignAnglea PereyraWon
Award of Excellence for Costume DesignRowella Talusig and Quezon's Game costume teamWon
Award of Merit for Color TreatmentAntonette GozumWon
2019 WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival[11] Best Foreign MovieQuezon's GameWon [13]
Gold Remi Awards for Best Art DesignQuezon's GameWon
Gold Remi Awards for Best ProducersCarlo Katigbak
Olivia Lamasan
Linggit Tan-Marasigan
Lorena Rosen		Won
Gold Remi Awards for Best DirectorMatthew RosenWon
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See also

References
  1. "Quezon's Game". Film Freeway. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  2. "'Quezon's Game' earns 12 international film fest awards". Daily Tribune. 16 January 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  3. Unjieng, Philip Cu (10 May 2019). "Quezon as humanitarian". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  4. Limos, Mario (16 May 2019). "Quezon's Game: Movie Review". Esquirre. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  5. Padayhag, Michelle Joy (19 May 2019). "'Quezon's Game' promises to be a touching, educational historical film". Cebu Daily News. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  6. Tenorio, Rich (20 February 2020). "Little known Philippines' WWII rescue of Jews was capped by US interference". Times of Israel. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  7. "ABS-CBN's "Quezon's Game" to Premiere in Cinemas". Film Development Council of the Philippines. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  8. Anarcon, James Patrick (August 1, 2019). "GMA-7 stars Derek Ramsay, Mylene Dizon to do original series for ABS-CBN online platform". PEP.ph.
  9. "Quezon's Game (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. February 3, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  10. "Quezon's Game Metacritic". Metacritic. January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
  11. "'Quezon's Game' named Best Foreign Movie in Texas fest". Manila Standard. 23 April 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
  12. "'Quezon's Game' earns 12 international film fest awards". Daily Tribune. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  13. "'Quezon's Game' named Best Foreign Movie in Texas fest". Manila Standard. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
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