MANILA, Philippines – Director Lauren Greenfield’s 2019 documentary film “The Kingmaker”, which follows how Imelda Marcos – with her charm, beauty, and vision – became a driving force during her husband’s regime, will be dubbed in Tagalog, making it more accessible to a wider Filipino audience.
Along with being dubbed, the film will get five separate versions captioned in five local dialects: Tagalog, Bisaya, Ilocano, Bicolano, and Hiligaynon, as stated in Greenfield’s recent tweet.
Earlier this month, Greenfield announced that an arrangement with ABS-CBN and iWantTFC has made free online viewing of the film possible on Vimeo.
Currently, the almost two-hour long documentary can also be streamed for free on Youtube.
The film gives the audience a brief background of Imelda’s early days, as an eight-year-old who lost her mother – a significant detail that contributed to her longing of finding a replacement for her mother’s love.
This longing for love was eventually satiated by a smitten Ferdinand Marcos, who Imelda stated in the film proposed to her 20 minutes after they met and married her 11 days later.
As the former first lady recounts significant events during her late husband’s reign, she says she has then found this love by being the “mother of the nation”.
“The Kingmaker” tackles, through Imelda’s eyes, her visions and influence during the Marcos regime, martial law, EDSA revolution, their family’s exile, and eventual return to the Philippines.
To give her documentary the right balance, the Marcoses’ narratives were featured side-by-side with that of the people who experienced contradicting situations imposed on them during Marcos’ rule.
In her exclusive interview with Rappler in 2019, Greenfield said regarding the film’s purpose: “We need to remember the past, we need to understand history. We need to be informed, because as we talked about before, these things happen little by little, and you don’t always see the big picture.”
“I would like people to take also the manipulation of information and the way it can impact elections. I hope it has resonance in the Philippines, but also, outside the Philippines,” she added.
Along the storyline, the attention is somewhat shifted to the subject’s son, who at the time was running for vice president – a move seen to reinstate and rehabilitate the Marcos name in politics.
This coming elections, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is once again vying for a national position – this time for the presidential seat – where he goes against Ernesto Abella, Leody De Guzman, Isko Moreno Domagoso, Norberto Gonzales, Ping Lacson, Faisal Mangondato, Jose Montemayor Jr, Manny Pacquiao, and Leni Robredo (his past opponent for the vice presidential position in 2016).
As the May 9 elections draw nearer, Caritas Philippines National Director Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo urged voters to pray for all the candidates that they may have strength, good health and clarity of mind as to their true purpose in seeking to be elected.