ILOILO CITY – “1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom,” a film that has the backdrop of the Battle of Mactan, is the gift of the family of a rookie Ilonggo producer to the Philippines.
FRANCIS B. Lara Ho, the producer of the movie ‘1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom,’ is an Ilonggo who hails from Dueñas town, Iloilo province. (Tara Yap)
“We love this country so much that we wanted to honor it,” Francis Balaran Lara Ho, the producer of the historical love drama starring Bea Alonzo and Mexican actor Danny Trejo.
“What a better way to show how that love with how this country started. At least, in the written history when the Spaniards came,” Ho said.
The Ilonggo who hails from Dueñas town, Iloilo province said one of the driving forces in producing the film was how the world views Philippine history and the natives.
Ho said that Westerners often have the narrative that it was Ferdinand Magellan, the Portuguese explorer who sailed for the growing empire of Spain, as the hero in the Battle of Mactan.
“Many are thinking that Lapu-Lapu is a savage warrior and pirate who rapes women,” said Ho. “I wanted to change that negative image of not only Lapu-Lapu, but of the Filipinos,” Ho added.
“The film is a story about Filipino heroism that the world doesn’t know about. The battle is historical, but the love story is fictional,” Ho added.
The movie made in time for the 125th Philippine Independence Day in 2023 will be screened in Philippine cinemas on June 5.