On the occasion of what would have been Nora Aunor’s 72nd birthday, a movie about the passionate fan mentality that she has spawned, premiered May 21 at Gateway cinema in Cubao.
MOVIEGOER: 'Faney' a gift to Nora and fandom
Published May 22, 2025 01:42 pm
At A Glance
- 'Faney' is just one of many tributes flooding social media more than a month after Nora passed.
Titled ‘Faney,’ and subtitled 'The Fan,’ the movie pays tribute to the Philippine superstar and National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts who passed on April 16 due to complications brought about by acute respiratory illness.
An advance trailer for the film released on social media shows lead actress Laurice Guillen, playing a long-time fan of Nora’s, reenacting certain landmark scenes from some of the actress’ films. The scene should resonate with Nora’s fans, who normally get a thrill reciting her movie lines over and over, with conviction, grace and bravura.
‘Faney’ is just one of many tributes flooding social media more than a month after Nora passed.
An old bake shop, Kamuning Bakery, has reissued Pan de Nora, named after the superstar. Like I wrote in a previous Moviegoer column, Nora has become even larger than life even in death.
Every day, and almost every moment, socmedia is abuzz with posts about the superstar’s life, the tradition of humility and kindness that she has left behind, cementing her legacy. Scenes from her old movies have been converted into reels or short films. Not a day passes when a post or a reel about Nora escapes my news feed.
It will be hard to say that ‘Faney,’ produced by Frontrow Entertainment, is an attempt to sum up the tributes flooding social media today. I asked Director Adolfo Alix, Jr why he’s not calling his new film, Noranian, as it was more on-point and easily identifiable.
Alix said there lies a certain context to the chosen title, possibly an attempt to explain the rationale behind such a fanatical, often hysterical behaviour, in local movie fandom.
For the record, let me state here what I have witnessed at the height of Nora’s superstardom starting from the late 1960s, and throughout the 1970s and 80s. I remember the mammoth crowds that gathered every time she made an appearance, the screaming that cheered her every step of the way, the sampaguita leis that almost clobbered her little frame.
I have been covering the entertainment beat for the longest time. I must say I have never seen anything like it, then and especially now. These days, when I see young actresses waving at their so-called fan clubs, I am reduced to a doubting Thomas counting their number by one’s fingers. I doubt if they can wield the same kind of patronage and loyalty that Nora drew from them wholeheartedly.
‘Faney’ is a tribute to them as much as it is pays homage to the late National Artist. Playing the roles of real-life fans are Gina Alajar, Angeli Bayani, Althea Ablan and Roderick Paulate.