They’re not revealing it yet, but heard from the vineyard that a Filipino film has been accepted for the main competition in an A-List international film festival to be held abroad sometime this year.

That film could be ‘Silenced Nights,’ a socio-political drama set against the anti-drug war launched by the Duterte administration.

Directed by Lawrence Fajardo, the film stars Nico Antonio in the lead role, that of an ordinary laborer who witnesses the killing by police officers of a teenaged boy still in his school uniform.

It calls to mind the senseless murder of Kean de los Santos at the height of the anti-drug war in Manila’s underbellies.

True enough, ‘Silenced Nights’ was filmed in a place called Happy Land, a sitio in Tondo, considered a closed, no-man’s land ruled by gangs and similar elements. Even the police have a hard time penetrating such a place, says Nico.

The 43-year old actor, on the threshold of a career launch, recalls that filming in the place for almost two weeks offered him more than enough immersion period. No matter the foul odor emanating from uncollected garbage, human and animal waste, and the generally polluted atmosphere, cast and crew proceeded with the shoot as normally as possible.

“I realized that while filming in a place like that, you have to be above it all. You have to behave like a regular resident. You must not cover your nose even when you sniff the unfamiliar,” he says.

"Silenced Nights" stemmed from a script by Troy Espiritu, who submitted the material to Quantum Films producer Joji Alonso.

Around that time, 2024, Quantum had been in search of a script of international film festival quality.

Joji presented the script to Nico, who immediately liked it at first reading. However, the actor couldn’t commit to the project right away as it came on the eve of his decision to take his much-delayed bar exams. Nico reviewed for the lawyer’s board furiously in 2024, then took the bar in 2025, which he passed. It was only after he took the bar that filming commenced.

What does he like most about "Silenced Nights?"

“The script is very true to life, a  mirror of our times. It can’t be helped that it has what we call poverty-porn, yet how can you tell that story accurately without capturing that milieu,” he says.

"Silenced Nights," hints an allusion to the popular Christmas carol, "Silent Night." By design, the story is timed with the Christmas season.

“It was a good thing that we shot right after Christmas, so that the holiday decorations were still in place,” according to Nico.

Fajardo’s coming on board as director was a bonus, according to Nico. “We have a good working relationship, having done a film in the past, ‘Posas,’ where I played a snatcher.”

Nico takes pride in the little girl, Aquisha Tombiga, who plays his daughter in the film. She’s of the place, spotted by director Fajardo during their location-hunting. Fajardo says he was drawn to the location by its sheer rawness and authenticity. He particularly liked the intertwining, spaghetti-like electric wires that hovered all over the place.

It had just the right atmosphere, the look and feel of it all. Think parallels with Lino Brocka’s "Insiang," or "Maynila: Sa Kuko ng Liwanag."

The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has given "Silenced Nights" an R-16 rating.

With the intriguing tagline, “Where fear prevails, justice is silenced,” the film is set for release in theaters nationwide on September 16.

According to the MTRCB website, the film includes themes related to extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and other issues.

It also contains “graphic but non-gratuitous depiction of violence and gore, language, non-gratuitous depiction of drugs or their use” that may not be suitable for viewers below 16 years old.

Silenced Nights’ R-16 rating means that it is appropriate for audiences aged 16 and older.

In a statement, MTRCB Chair and CEO Lala Sotto urged the public to lend their support for the upcoming film.

"Silenced Nights" is produced by Quantum Films, Inc. and by House on Fire International (Taiwan) and House on Fire (France). The film also stars Lotlot de Leon, Ina Feleo, Tanya Gomez, Joel Saracho, among others.