Seán Devlin
90 mins
This screwball tragicomedy stars a cast of real-life survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda, focusing on the adventures of Jaya, a non-binary schoolteacher and comedian. Picking up the pieces in their life, Jaya decides to travel across the Philippines in the hopes of winning a drag beauty pageant. But a chance encounter with bereaved student Arnel complicates their plans, and as they head on a journey together, the unlikely duo find themselves forever changed by the people and places they encounter. Featuring outstanding performances from its non-professional cast, Seán Devlin’s unconventional road movie is a riotously funny crowd-pleaser: both an empowering queer fairytale and a profound, politically-charged ode to the power of solidarity in the face of tragedy.
Seán Devlin’s debut feature When The Storm Fades earned him two jury prizes at the Vancouver International Film Festival. His films have been presented at Cannes Docs, Tribeca, Cairo, Sao Paulo and London Film Festivals, and he is an alumnus of the Rotterdam Producers Lab.