“Amon Banwa sa Lawud” (Our Island of the Mangrove Moons), co-produced by the Erehwon Center for the Arts and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies of Notre Dame University, USA, was chosen as the Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Louth International Film Festival. The film was directed by Anton Juan, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It focuses on the efforts of the island people of Suyac in Negros in the Visayas region of the Philippines, to resist foreign threats to their livelihood and their way of life. It shows the story of island communities who are facing annihilation, because of power plays by foreign nations usurping territories beyond their legal boundaries.
The Louth International Film Festival was established in 2019 and is located on the East Coast of Ireland, on the County of Louth which is imbued with a long and rich history of arts and music, culture and folklore. It was founded to support emerging filmmakers and celebrate creative, challenging and evocative cinema from around the globe. The Festival enjoys a diverse patronage with guests from the local community, film industry representatives, visiting filmmakers, students and film enthusiasts from all walks of life.
Dundalk, Ireland native and Hollywood director, John Moore, had this to say about the fourth edition, “Everyone is from somewhere: but we like to reach out to everywhere – local film festivals do this, they bring the wide world to us all and add their own special local magic. Louth is a small county with a huge sense of magic, of history of story: I wish them continued success with their world-class festival and continue to support them and cheer them to the rafters.”