| Joselito Altarejos | |
| Alias: | Jose Altarejos, Jay Altajeros |
| Birth Place: | Ticao Island, Philippines |
| Occupation: | Film director, film producer, screenwriter |
| Years Active: | 1998–present |
Joselito Altarejos is an accomplished Filipino filmmaker having won several prestigious 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. His films were celebrated at international LGBT film festivals. With his newly formed production, 2076 Kolektib, his ultimate goal is to create and produce multimedia content that will arouse, educate, and inspire his audiences to become more vigilant and conscious of the social issues and challenges they face in the age of yet another strongman rule. In the true spirit of independent filmmaking, Altarejos’ decades of experience and continued quest to acquire more profound knowledge and creative enrichment is geared towards marshaling the sentient and jolting the uninformed – while still very much adhered to forming the Brockanian concept of the Great Filipino Audience. Altarejos has also worked for Filipino television doing series and anthologies including the long-running TV series Legacy on the GMA Network. In most of his television work, he is credited as Jose Altarejos and Jay Altajeros.
The Game of Juan’s Life (2009) won Honorable Mention-Narrative Category at the 2010 Chicago Reeling in USA; while Antonio’s Secret (2008) was proclaimed Best Feature Film at Festival de la Luna 2010 in Valencia, Spain and Festival del Mar in Ibiza, Spain.
Pink Halo-Halo was a finalist in Cinemalaya 2010 Directors Showcase category and won Best Editing and Jury Prize Film for Children. It is about the effects of war on Filipino children and families. It is the first-ever feature film that used Bicolano language in the entire film. The film is in Tigaonon, the language of the people of Ticao Island in Masbate.
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 2014 his film The Commitment (In Tagalog Kasal) has been raved by critics. It won Best Feature Film, Best Music and Best Cinematography at the 10th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is the leading film festival in the Philippines. Kasal is a slice of life drama of a gay couple whose resolve to stay together is challenged as they attend a wedding ceremony. It is also an examination on how a gay couple navigates through the different institutions in Filipino society.
In 2016, Altarejos won the Best Screenplay award for his film T.P.O. (also known as Temporary Protection Order) which was about domestic violence and an entry to the Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival headed by Brillante Mendoza. The film also won Best Sound ath the said festival.
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. It won Best Film at Romanian Gay Film Nights (Serile Filmului International Film Festival). In 2018, Altarejos made a comeback to Sinag Maynila International Film Festival in the Philippines with the film. The film won Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and Box Office Award.
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; Pilipino: 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]