16 November 2015 – Heneral Luna star John Arcilla paid a courtesy call on Consul General Mario De Leon, Jr. last November 11, in between the actor’s meet-and-greet visits in New York and New Jersey theatres and showing the historical biopic of General Antonio Luna, highlighting his heroism during the Philippine-American War. Heneral Luna is the Philippines’ entry to the Foreign Language Film Category at the Academy Awards.
Consul General De Leon congratulated Arcilla for the success of his film, a cultural phenomenon setting a new record as the longest-running movie in the Philippines, now on its 10th week of showing, and expressed his admiration for the film, noting it has raised the standards of film-making in the Philippines.
Mr. Arcilla, who plays the titular role, remarked that Filipinos deserve intelligent films and expressed his pride in showing this level of artistry to the world. The actor added, “It is really heartwarming to hear viewers’ – especially the young Filipinos’ – reactions to the film, and how the story of General Luna sparked their interest in our history.”
The two gentlemen engaged on a discourse on the lessons of history and agreed that the Philippines is a young democracy and there are lessons from the film that are still very much relevant in our country today. END