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Joselito Altarejos

Joselito Altarejos
Born
Ticao Island, Philippines
Other namesJose Altarejos, Jay Altajeros
Occupation(s)Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active1998–present

Joselito Altarejos is a Filipino filmmaker having won several awards in the Philippines as well as internationally. He is well known for his ground-breaking openly gay-themed film features like The Man in the Lighthouse (in Tagalog Ang Lalake sa Parola), Antonio's Secret (in Tagalog Ang Lihim ni Antonio), Kambyo, The Game of Juan's Life (in Tagalog Ang Laro ng Buhay ni Juan ), Pink Halo-Halo, Unfriend, The Commitment (in Tagalog Kasal).[1] His 2017 film Tale of the Lost Boys was filmed in Taiwan.

Career

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Unfriend premiered at the Panorama Section of the 2014 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) and got international and local media attention for highlighting the "dangerous power of social media". Unfriend has been featured by major news organizations like Reuters, Huffington Post, ABS CBN and Philippine Daily Inquirer. It was released internationally by Fortissimo Films.

In 2017, Altarejos released Tale of the Lost Boys, his first international feature, shot and produced in Taiwan. It is a story of friendship between a straight Filipino man and a gay Taiwanese aborigine who both have issues regarding their identities. It has been screened at several international festivals, including Rainbow Reel Tokyo, New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival (NewFest), Taiwan International Queer Film Festival among others. In 2018, Altarejos made a comeback to Sinag Maynila International Film Festival in the Philippines with the film.

Altarejos has also worked for television doing series and anthologies for Philippines top networks GMA and TV5. Using the names Jay Altarejos and Jay Altajeros (keeping the name Joselito Altarejos to his big screen features), he has directed a number of television series, notably the youth-oriented POSH and the long-running 98-episode TV series Legacy on the GMA Network.

The Revolution Knows No Gender (Filipino: Walang Kasarian Ang Digmang Bayan), directed and written by Altarejos, was set to release at an independent film festival in Manila in February 2020. The film was disqualified for deviating from a previously approved script and removed from the festival.[2] Altarejos alleged that the decision to not screen his film was politically motivated censorship.[3]

Awards and nominations

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Wins

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Nominations

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Filmography

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Director

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Films and features

(all in Philippines, except Tale of the Lost Boys in Taiwan)

TV series

Producer

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Writer

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References

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  1. ^ Screen Daily: Fortissimo Films secures rights to Joselito Altarejos' Unfriend
  2. ^ News, Davinci Maru, ABS-CBN (February 22, 2020). "Sinag Maynila disqualifies film critical of Duterte admin; director raises howl". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved December 30, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "Director Jay Altarejos on his Sinag Maynila disqualification". cnn. Retrieved December 30, 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  4. ^ Ang Lihim ni Antonio Wins Best Picture at Film Festival in Spain
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h IMDb.com Pink Halo-Halo page
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