| Honor Thy Father | |
| Director: | Erik Matti |
| Screenplay: | Michiko Yamamoto |
| Studio: | Reality Entertainment |
| Music: | Erwin Romulo |
| Cinematography: | Ber Cruz |
| Editing: | Jay Halili |
| Runtime: | 115 minutes |
| Country: | Philippines |
Honor Thy Father (originally titled as Con-Man) is a 2015 Filipino thriller crime drama film directed by Erik Matti and starring John Lloyd Cruz. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. It was an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival.
The film is about a family who find themselves in a Ponzi scheme. Edgar (John Lloyd Cruz) and Kaye (Meryll Soriano) seek to pay their family's debt to Kaye's co-parishioners. The couple fears that the parishioners may hurt their daughter.[1]
The film was directed by Erik Matti. The film's lead actor, John Lloyd Cruz alongside Dondon Monteverde are producers of the film.[3] Agosto Dos Pictures, was originally planned to be co-producer of the film along with Reality Entertainment. The film was originally titled Ponzi.
John Lloyd Cruz was chosen to portray the lead character of the film. The actor shaved his head for the role despite warnings from his big studio handlers that he might lose endorsement contracts, especially for a certain shampoo product. The actor sought to break away from the leading man role that people are familiar with in his mainstream films and also explained that his acting work isn't confined to his home television network, ABS-CBN, stating that he "refuses to be typecast". He sought to project a different image from the one audiences have gotten accustomed to by playing a lead role in an indie film.[4]
Originally, Dingdong Dantes was also offered to portray John Lloyd's role but it was the latter that ultimately played the role.[5]
The film was shot in Macabebe, Pampanga, Baguio and nearby towns. About 16 hours of shooting was spent inside the mines of Camp 6 along Kennon Road.[6]
Honor thy Father was first screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[4] [7] It was also screened in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival in November 2015.[8] The film was accepted as an official entrant to the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival after Hermano Puli, a historical biopic directed by Gil Portes, withdrew from the festival on October.[8]
At the 2015 Metro Manila Film Festival, the film was subsequently disqualified from the Best Picture category led to controversy, sued against the festival's officials by Lloyd Cruz and the film's crew.[9] One of the film's producers said: “We complied with all the MMFF’s requirements; we did not commit any non-disclosure of any kind; no MMFF rule was ever violated by Honor Thy Father.”[10]
| Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 41st Metro Manila Film Festival[11] | Erik Matti | ||
| John Lloyd Cruz | |||
| Best Actress | Meryll Soriano | ||
| Best Supporting Actor | Tirso Cruz III | ||
| Best Child Performer | Krystal Brimner | ||
| Best Cinematography | Ber Cruz | ||
| Best Screenplay | Michiko Yamamoto | ||
| Best Original Story | Michiko Yamamoto and Erik Matti | ||
| Best Production Design | Ericson Navarro | ||
| Best Make-up Artist | Ryan Panaligan and Erika Racela | ||
| Best Original Theme Song | Tao | ||
| Best Musical Score | Erwin Romulo | ||
| Best Sound Engineering | Mikko Quizon | ||
| 32nd PMPC Star Awards for Movies[12] | |||
| Movie of the Year | Honor Thy Father | ||
| Movie Director of the Year | Erik Matti | ||
| Movie Actor of the Year | John Lloyd Cruz | ||
| Movie Actress of the Year | Meryll Soriano | ||
| Movie Supporting Actor of the Year | Tirso Cruz III | ||
| Danilo Fernandez | |||
| Movie Child Performer of the Year | Krystal Brimner | ||
| Movie Screenwriter of the Year | Michiko Yamamoto | ||
| Movie Cinematographer of the Year | Ber Cruz | ||
| Movie Production Designer of the Year | Ericson Navarro | ||
| Movie Editor of the Year | Jay Halili | ||
| Movie Musical Scorer of the Year | Erwin Romulo | ||
| Movie Sound Engineer of the Year | Mikko Quizon |