Is fanhood a hobby, a sickness, a mental aberration, an illness, a temporary state of mind? A fetish?

If Sigmund Freud were still around today, how would he classify the kind of public adulation and hero worship that the late actress and National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Nora Aunor wielded on a general audience, men, women, and children, that adored her every move, every song, every film, every quotation, every appearance?

Freud would probably get lost in translation and confusion trying to figure out what could be going on in the hearts and minds of these self-proclaimed Noranians, who seem to have the same DNA type running through their veins.

A film called ‘Faney’ (The Fan), by writer-director Adolfo Alix Jr. premiered May 21 at Gateway cinema in Cubao on the occasion of what would have been Nora Aunor’s 72nd birthday. In capsule, Faney is a movie about the passionate fan mentality that Nora, and only Nora, throughout the history of Philippine movies, has spawned.

'‘Faney’ pays tribute to the Philippine superstar who passed on April 16, 2025, due to complications brought about by acute respiratory illness.

'In one of the many emotion-charged scenes from the film, lead actress Laurice Guillen, playing a long-time fan of Nora’s, reenacts 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 a gift to Nora and fandom that Alix has deftly packaged into an 80-minute personal film. An air of melancholy permeates throughout most of the film, perhaps in keeping with Nora’s constant screen personifications or the film’s seriousness of purpose. Alix is presenting here a treatise on a social phenomenon that doesn’t happen every day, not in every lifetime. He handles the material with care, mindful that Nora’s legacy as an artist and a human being is preserved.

This is not to say that Faney doesn’t have entertaining parts. Some sequences show the actors portraying their on-screen characters but mouthing lines from Nora’s landmark films, like Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit. Some of the characters are named Bona, Flor, Anselmo, Magnolia, Pacita, et cetera, names brought to life by the superstar (and Tirso Cruz III) in her films.

‘Faney’ is just one of many tributes flooding social media more than two months after the veteran actress passed. Like I wrote in a previous column, Nora has become even larger than life even in death.

Every day, and almost every moment, social media 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 that a post or a reel about Nora escapes my news feed.

It will be hard to say that ‘Faney,’ produced by Frontrow Entertainment, Intele Builders, Noble Wolf, and AQ Films, is an attempt to sum up the tributes flooding social media today. It certainly isn’t enough.

I asked Mr. Alix 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 witnessed at the height of Nora’s superstardom, starting from the late 1960s and continuing through the 1970s and 1980s. I remember the mammoth crowds that gathered every time she made an appearance, the deafening 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 doubting Thomas counting their number on 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. Faney is a heartwarming story that goes beyond fandom.

“What is essential,” Alix says, "is how we are shaped by who we believe in and who our heroes are.”

Playing the roles of real-life fans are Gina Alajar, Angeli Bayani, Althea Ablan, and Roderick Paulate. The film also features Bembol Roco, Ian De Leon, and Perla Bautista.