Big Night! screening with director, Jun Robles Lana

A free screening of Jun Lana Robles's award-winning film Big Night! (2021) followed by a Q&A with the director. Welcome reception, screening, and Q&A are open to the public! FREE ADMISSION, so save your seats!

Reception with catering by Tita Flips at 6:00 pm, film screening at 7:00 pm.

ABOUT THE FILM: Big Night! employs comedy and satire to reimagine Rodrigo Duterte's infamous "War on Drugs." It tells the story of Dharna, a law-abiding and peace-loving queer beautician who owns a small salon in one of Manila's slums. Dharna's life takes a drastic turn when his name appears on a neighborhood watchlist of suspected drug users. Fearing that he might be assassinated like others on these lists, he sets out on a frustrating and unbelievably comical bureaucratic odyssey to clear his name. This film offers a timely and creative response to inequality's ongoing effects on the Philippines and its diaspora. It foregrounds the joys and pains of marginalized Filipinos.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: June Robles Lana is the youngest Filipino to be inducted in the Palanca Literary Awards' (Philippine’s Pulitzer Prize) Hall of Fame. In 2019 he won the Best Director Award at the Tallinn International Film Festival for Kalel, 15. Four years later, his film About Us But Not About Us won Best Film at the inaugural Critics’ Pick section of the same festival. His many directorial credits include the multi-awarded films Bwakaw, Barber’s Tales, Shadow Behind The Moon, Die Beautiful, and Big Night! His most recent film Your Mother’s Son is set to have its world premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.

Hosting Organizations

Canadian Studies Program & Minor in Asian Canadian Studies
Cinema Studies Institute
David Chu Program in Asia Pacific Studies
Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
Southeast Asian Seminar Series
Women and Gender Studies Institute