{"id":635137,"date":"2026-10-19T09:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/635137\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T09:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T09:34:12","slug":"busan-winner-ria-arvin-belarminos-punk-debut-boards-lights-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/635137\/","title":{"rendered":"Busan Winner ‘Ria,’ Arvin Belarmino’s Punk Debut, Boards Lights On"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cRia,\u201d Philippines filmmaker Arvin Belarmino<\/a>\u2019s debut feature about a young woman from the folk-punk scene who takes on a property developer to save her home, has been picked up by international sales company Lights On<\/a> following its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film picked up the Heart of Eurasia Award after bowing in Busan.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn the story, Ria teams up with her foster mother and their fellow punks to resist a merciless developer intent on tearing down their building. It is the last structure left standing in a neighborhood that has already been reduced to rubble.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is a co-production between the Philippines, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Norway.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAn ode to rebellion and a fierce cry against injustice, \u2018Ria\u2019 is a film that reminds us of cinema\u2019s ability to resist, question, and confront the world around us. A film that deserves to travel far and connect with audiences across borders,\u201d said Lights On co-founder and managing director Flavio Armone.<\/p>\n

\n\tArmone said the company was especially proud to see the project come together because it extends its relationship with Belarmino. The two previously worked together on \u201cAgapito,\u201d a Cannes-debuting short that Belarmino co-directed with Kyla Romero.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m so happy to be collaborating with Lights On. They\u2019ve been part of my journey as a filmmaker, witnessing my growth from my short film to now bringing my feature film to life. There\u2019s something so fulfilling about finding people who see your vision, believe in your stories, and grow alongside you,\u201d said Belarmino.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer Kristine De Leon said making the film had not been easy, adding: \u201cHaving people you can trust makes the journey a little lighter. That\u2019s something I\u2019ve found with Lights On.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLights On\u2019s slate also includes Polen Ly\u2019s Cambodian feature \u201cBecoming Human,\u201d a 2025 Venice title, and \u201cHair, Paper, Water\u2026,\u201d from Nicolas Graux and Tr\u01b0\u01a1ng Minh Qu\u00fd, which played Locarno the same year. \u201cBecoming Human\u201d is Cambodia\u2019s Oscar submission this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cRia,\u201d Philippines filmmaker Arvin Belarmino\u2019s debut feature about a young woman from the folk-punk scene who takes on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[311352,27449,156,311353,409,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-635137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-arvin-belarmino","tag-busan-international-film-festival","tag-entertainment","tag-lights-on","tag-movies","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}