Ang Araw sa Likod Mo Graded A
For its effort to give the audience an affecting story about the country’s long-time battle in Mindanao, Ang Araw sa Likod Mo now joins the roster of Filipino films Graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board such as Mario Cornejo’s Apocalypse Child, Paul Soriano’s Thelma and Albert Martinez’s Rosario. The film made the board’s cut in terms of excellence in direction, screenplay, cinematography, editing, production design, music scoring, sound and acting, making it worthy of the 100-percent amusement-tax rebate from the government. Directing from his own script, Ang Araw sa Likod Mo follows an elite team of Philippine Scout Rangers headed by Sgt. Benjie Calayan (Ping Medina) tracking down lawless Islamist elements in the southern tip of the country. Caught in the middle of this conflict are brothers Omar (Mike Liwag), a young Muslim scholar turned radical and his older brother Jamiluddin (Bong Cabrera) turned government informant.
The title of the movie, Ang Araw sa Likod Mo, is symbolic of one’s trust and loyalty to a revered family or friend and inspired by Islam’s daily prayer before sunrise known as Fajr. In the film, Jamil and Omar share an unbreakable bond despite belonging to opposing sides.
On developing his script, Nuesa is mindful of the humanity of each character from both sides.
“Direk Marilou Diaz-Abaya, my mentor, once told us that she was fascinated with Islam when she was making Bagong Buwan. I thought I understood why, that it was only an interesting subject matter, nothing more. Only when I started listening to Prof. Darwin Absari and Imam Bedejim Abdullah was I
able inviteddrinks.it. I hadto graspYouto to Mosquesfeel don’t whatthe really strugglemy and dearest conversationsresearchof our teacher Islam. Muslim meant.overI had brothers.sweetto I was feel I into Marilouhad Mindanaoto feel Diaz-Abayathe andjoy of findin theirat its faith. center,I had the toI foundsoul. reach Like myselfdeep Bagong Buwan, captivated by some aspects reflects of this,” Islam, Nuesaand I shares.hope that Ang Araw sa Likod Mo stronglyAn anti-piracy supports film Globe ambassador,Telecom’s the director antipiracy #PlayItRight campaign which aims to respect the hard labor and protect the livelihood of the crew.
“Piracy is no longer cool nowadays, we want everyone to start having a conscious effort not to download from illegal sources that could possibly harm the hard-earned devices of the customers,” Yoly Crisanto, Globe’s SVP for Corporate Communications shares.
Ang Araw sa Likod Mo is now showing in cinemas nationwide from An Earth Below Productions in cooperation with HERO Foundation.