Lino Brocka's 1988 Gay Philippine Cult Classic 'Macho Dancer' Restored in 4K for Theatrical Return
By
Ryan Lattanzio
If you only eat one bagel today, this is the bagel.
Summary
Lino Brocka's 1988 Filipino gay cult classic 'Macho Dancer' has been restored in 4K and is returning to theaters. The hyper-stylized melodrama follows a young gay man who leaves his rural home for Manila to support his family through sex work, navigating a world of desire and police corruption. The film has been preserved and screened at prestigious institutions like MoMA's To Save and Project and the Los Angeles Fest.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThe rising swell of LGBTQ films from the Philippines in the last few decades owes much to Lino Brocka's 1988 'Macho Dancer.'
A vividly told and hyper-stylized melodrama, the film centers on a young gay man, barely 18, who leaves the country to try his hand at sex work in Manila to support his family.
He falls into a demimonde of desire and police corruption in this surprisingly explicit (but never exploitative) rediscovery.
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