Jericho Rosales shared that he’s inspired to do more advocacy-oriented films after the successful film screening of Alagwa (English title: Breakaway) at the 37th Busan International Film Festival last month. The film was featured in the prestigious film festival for its world-class quality and socially-relevant theme. The Hollywood Reporter film review described the indie film as a “powerful film about human trafficking; it is also a small gem portraying a father-son relationship with nothing fake or sentimental about it.”

Looking back, Jericho was really grateful for the support that they received from the foreign audience at the said event. “Ang ganda ng Q and A after every screening. The Koreans stayed until after the film. They were crying, they were laughing, they were asking very good questions. Sometimes personal, pero okay lang. Nakaka-overwhelm lang kasi buong city ng Busan napaka-supportive. May mga Koreans pa na nagpapa-picture so nakakataba ng puso. Gusto lang namin mag-gain ng awareness. It’s a big event for us. Hopefully, we'll get local and international distribution. Siyempre mas importante dito sa Pilipinas.”

Filipinos have the chance to watch Alagwa via the Cinema One Originals Festival to be held from November 28 to December 9 at Robinsons Galleria Movie World and from November 29 to December 4 at the EDSA Shangri-La Cineplex. Jericho added that it’s a perfect venue for Filipinos to appreciate locally-produced artistic films. “I guess it’s a matter of kailangan suportahan ng TV stations at promo ng media na these are the films that we should be supporting. Karamihan kasi ng indie films natin sa abroad napapansin. Dapat tayong Pinoy ma-exercise nating yung appreciation for artistic films. Lalo na dahil yung mga pelikulang ito may kapupulutang aral din naman. At the same time, dapat may balance rin naman, na hindi laging seryoso para ‘wag i-discriminate yung ibang audience. Alagwa has that flavor.”