Producers of the award-winning Filipino film Birdshot announced yesterday that the film has been picked up by video-streaming giant Netflix and will be available worldwide on Monday.
The thriller premiered at the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2016 and showed in the Philippines at the Pistang Pelikulang Pinoy (PPP) in August last year. The story revolves around Maya, played by child actress Mary Joy Apostol, who kills an endangered Philippine Eagle after being taught to shoot a gun by her father.
The film won Best Picture in the Asian Future category of the Tokyo International Film Festival in 2016.
“Birdshot is a mesmerizing thriller that’s beautifully shot and since its debut, the movie has been widely recognized by critics, and we are confident that it will equally resonate with the more than 117 million Netflix members globally,” said Robert Roy, Vice President of Content Acquisition at Netflix.
Birdshot was the Philippines’ official entry to the best foreign language film category at the 2018 Academy Awards but it failed to get a nomination.
Birdshot director Mikhail Red said of the film’s Netflix acquisition: “I’ve always been a fan and subscriber of the streaming service. Having a film on their platform is just a dream come true for me as a filmmaker and storyteller.” He also said he hopes Netflix’s recognition of his film would help open doors for other Filipino filmmakers.
Watch the trailer here:
