Markova: Comfort Gay

Markova: Comfort Gay is a 2000 Filipino biographical-comedy, drama film based loosely on the life of Walter Dempster Jr., the last surviving Filipino "comfort gay" (male sex slaves for Japanese army) from World War II. The film tells the story of his hardships during his childhood and his travail during the World War II Japanese occupation of the Philippines. The character was played by actor Dolphy, who played the adult Markova while two of his sons, Eric Quizon and Jeffrey Quizon, played the role of two younger Markovas in two more different phases of his life.

Markova: Comfort Gay
The original film poster
Directed byGil Portes
Produced by
  • Dolphy
  • Dolor Guevarra
  • Rene Pascual
Screenplay byClodualdo del Mundo Jr.
Starring
Music byJoy Marfil
CinematographyJohnny Araojo
Edited byGeorge Jarlego
Production
company
RVQ Productions
Distributed byVagrant Films
Release date
  • December 25, 2000 (2000-12-25)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryPhilippines
LanguageFilipino
Japanese
Box office₱190,000,000.00

Plot

After watching a documentary about the suffering of "comfort women" forced into sexual slavery during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Markova decides to tell his own painful story to reporter Loren Legarda. Escaping the torment of growing up with an abusive older brother, he and his gay friends found further suffering at the hands of Japanese soldiers, forced as sex slaves to survive. But even after the war, Markova's struggle continued.

Cast
  • Dolphy† as Walter Dempster Jr./Walterina Markova (adult years)
  • Eric Quizon as Walterina Markova (during his middle years)
  • Epi Quizon as the young Markova
  • Ricci Chan as Anita
  • R.S. Francisco as Minerva
  • Melvin Lee as Carmen
  • Loren Legarda as herself
  • Freddie Quizon as Robert
  • Andoy Ranay as Sophie
  • Jess Fajardo of UST as chupapi
  • Joel Lamangan as Councilor Justo Justo
  • Chandro Concepcion as Roco
  • Gio Alvarez as the young gay

Cameo roles
  • Andrew E. as Chiquito/"Tintoy"
  • Daisy Reyes as Rosa

Awards and recognitions

Official selections
  • 2002 Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
  • 2002 San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival
  • 2001 Brussels International Film Festival

2001 Brussels International Film Festival
  • Won Prix de la Meilleure Interpretation, Dolphy, Eric Quizon, and Jeffrey Quizon

2001 FAMAS Awards
  • Won Best Supporting Actor, Jeffrey Quizon
  • Won Best Production Design, Kay Abano
  • Nominated Best Actor, Dolphy
  • Nominated Best sound, Albert Michael Idioma and Rudy Gonzales

2001 Gawad Urian Awards
  • Won Best Supporting actor, Jeffrey Quizon
  • Nominated Best Actor, Dolphy
  • Nominated Best Music, Joy Marfil
  • Nominated Best Production Design, Kay Abano

2001 Young Critics Circle
  • Nominated Best Achievement in Cinematography and Visual Design, Johnny Araojo and Kay Abano
  • Nominated Best Performance by Male or Female, Adult or Child, Individual or Ensemble in Leading or Supporting Role, Dolphy

2000 Metro Manila Film Festival

References
  1. "Metro Manila Film Festival:2000". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.