Another milestone has been reached by Philippine cinema with the release of the 2024 Year in Review of the movie buff platform Letterboxd.
In the Top 10 Highest Rated Animation, the 2023 Filipino adult animated science fiction film “Iti Mapukpukaw” (The Missing) came in at number nine on the list.
Film production company Project 8 Projects took to their Facebook page to announce the great news.
“Thank you for making ITI MAPUKPUKAW (The Missing) Letterboxd’s 9th highest rated animated film for 2024!” they wrote.
This achievement highlights the growing recognition of the animated film on the popular film platform, Letterboxd, known for its passionate community of cinephiles who rate and review films. With its placement among the top-rated animated films of the year, ITI MAPUKPUKAW (The Missing) continues to garner praise and attention from movie lovers worldwide.
The Filipino-Ilocano rotoscope animated film narrates the story of Eric, a young animator whose life takes unexpected turns after his uncle dies and a familiar extraterrestrial arrives.
“Iti Mapukpukaw,” which was directed by Carl Joseph Papa, stars Carlo Aquino, Gio Gahol, and Dolly De Leon. The film’s storytelling and use of rotoscope animation to look into themes of friendship, healing, and young love have received a lot of praise. Both critics and viewers found resonance in its complex story, which earned it more recognition with the NETPAC Award.
It has garnered multiple accolades, including the 17th Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia and Best Feature Film at the 17th International Animated Film Festival in Poland, because of its compelling story that combines inventive imagery with profound emotional resonance. Additionally, it was an official entry at the Asian Film Festival in New York last year.
Aside from that, “Iti Mapukpukaw” was the Philippines’ entry for the 96th Academy Awards’ Best International Feature Film catgory.
Over the course of a year and seven months, 90 local animators and a youth-led team worked together to create the film. “Iti Mapukpukaw” became the highest-grossing entry at the Cinemalaya 2023 festival in addition to its awards and accolades.
Films that led the list of the Top 10 Highest Rated Animation Films include “Look Back,” “The Wild Robot,” “Haikyu: The Dumpster Battle,” “Memoir of A Snail,” and “Flow.”
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