The remarkable Filipino film Citizen Jake, the 21st-century obra maestra from iconic director Mike de Leon, is set for public exhibition through streaming app Mulat for two weekends, including on regular holidays commemorating Filipino heroism and sacrifices—April 9 and May 1.
The modern classic that relevantly touched the country’s struggle with authoritarianism was originally distributed in theaters back in 2018.
This time, the movie will be screened through open ticketing and school watch parties as the nation goes through the crucial stretch of the ongoing election campaign period.
Citizen Jake, which stars real-life journalist Atom Araullo in the titular role, is set for streaming on Mulat Premiere Cinema on April 9 and 10, and then April 30 and May 1.
The film’s streaming stretch this summer is the biggest project yet of the rising creative digital avenue Mulat, which serves as a helpful platform for content creators, filmmakers, influencers, and other modern-day artists.
The production arm officially named Mulat Broadcasting and Entertainment, Inc., and spearheaded by creative director Mel Bacani (who is lauded for his first-assistant director work on the also-revered film Sakay) is said to be synergizing the most modern and latest
breakthrough technologies on Big Data, Blockchain, and Artificial Intelligence. It hopes to guide and assist underserved individuals and groups in the field of arts and communication.
Citizen Jake is a film noir that puts fictional protagonist Jake Herrera (Araullo) in an emotional struggle being a new school journalist in search of and protecting the truth, while ironically born as the son of a dictator’s crony.
The movie also stars Teroy Guzman as Jake’s father Jacobo Hererra Sr. who is a corrupt senator, Gabby Eigenmann as his congressman-brother Roxie, and Max Collins as his girlfriend Mandy, an English school teacher. Other notable portrayals are delivered by seasoned acts Cherie Gil, Victor Neri, Allan Paule, Nonie Buencamino, Lou Veloso, and Dina Bonnevie.
According to DLSU professor Manny Reyes who himself directed a movie about Filipinos’ obsession to become American called Dreaming Filipinos, the film’s backdrop is the all-too-shocking “state-sanctioned violation of human rights.” In his review, he noted that main character
Jake Herrera’s “attempt to try to get to the bottom of a murder case is met with a lot of resistance by powerful people who may be behind it.” The film strongly reflects director Mike de Leon’s beef with abused authority which for him is “not one to be followed blindly.”
De Leon’s filmography is a legend’s track record with classics from the ‘70s (Itim, Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising,Kakabakaba Ka Ba?), and the ‘80s (Kisapmata, Batch ’81, Sister Stella L.). He was awarded Best Director in the 1978 Asian Film Festival held in Australia.
In 1999, he brought to new-age moviegoers the brilliant “Bayaning Third World.” The same year he was honored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines with Parangal Sentenyal sa Sining at Kultura.
Mulat’s partnership with the veteran filmmaker is poised to highlight more of his classic work for audiences of digital streaming to savor.
(To access Mulat Premiere Cinema and watch Mike de Leon’s Citizen Jake, register to http://www.mulatmedia.com.)