Brillante Mendoza Presents “Anak” at TV 5 on June 25

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Anak, the latest episode in the Brillante Mendoza Presents series will warm the hearts of viewers with its family oriented theme when it airs at TV 5 on June 25 at 10:30 pm. The series is a collaboration between TV 5 and Director Brillante Mendoza with support from SM.

Starring real life couple Harlene Bautista as Risa and Romnick Sarmenta as Lex, Anak follows the story of an old barren couple who make a pilgrimage to the Obando Fertility Rites to petition for a child.

A few years later, the wife conceives miraculously despite her age, but undergoes a difficult pregnancy which is life threatening to both her and her unborn child. She suffers from hypertension and delivers prematurely, causing a huge risk to her newborn child. After a month of enduring the hardships of caring for a premature baby at the hospital, the couple are finally able to bring home their baby and become a family.

Viewers of this latest masterpiece by Director Brillante Mendoza will also have a glimpse of the festive traditional Obando Fertility Rights. Celebrated every May, pilgrims and locals dance and sing to ask Obando’s three patron saints: San Pascual, Santa Clara and Nuestra Señora de Salambáo to grant their wish for a child. Throughout the fertility dance ritual, they ask the saints for the spirit of life to enter in to the wombs of women for a child to be conceived.

Other Anak cast members include Perla Bautista as Joy Bismark, Bea Saw as Michelle Hernandez, Gay Quililan as Lydia Martinez, and Kimmy Maclang as Beth Salud. Arianna Martinez wrote the episode with Armando “Bing” Lao as creative consultant.

Anak stars real life couple Harlene Bautista and Romnick Sarmenta as Risa and Lex respectively. Their desire to have a child brings them to dance at the Obando Fertility Rights.

Romnick Sarmenta as Lex, at first skeptical of the miracle of the Obando fertility rights but decides later on to accompany his wife.

Viewers will have a glimpse of the faith of pilgrims and the festive air of the Obando Fertility Rites during the episode.

Celebrated every May, men and women follow the carriage of San Pascual, Santa Clara and Nuestra Señora de Salambáoto. Most of them dance to wish to for a child, some for a spouse and good fortune, pledging perpetual devotion after their wishes are granted

Harlene Bautista as Risa whose desire for a child brings her to the Obando Fertility Rites with her husband.

Director Brillante Mendoza at work on the set of Anak. Apart from being a multi-awarded director, he is also a highly regarded production designer for commercials, music videos and movies.

Brillante Mendoza Presents is a collection of films made for television that merge together Filipino culture and Filipino stories. It airs once a month on a Saturday at 10:30PM on TV5. Movies are themed according to the month of its airing – earlier episodes included Tsinoy for Chinese New Year, Everlasting for Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival, Pagtatapos for Graduation, and Panata for Holy week.

Each episode is presented in Direk Brillante Mendoza’s trademark cinematic storytelling style that has garnered prestigious international awards. Brillante Mendoza Presents explores the complexities of human relationships set against the backdrop of culturally rich Filipino traditions.

With this partnership, TV5 considers director Brillante Mendoza as their content partner. TV5 President Chot Reyes shares his excitement for this exciting milestone for Philippine Television: “We're very excited about our partnership with award-winning director Brillante Mendoza. His works are synonymous with creative storytelling and world class excellence - qualities that are consistent withTV5’s positioning as the channel that provides quality, alternative content.”

He adds, “Our collaboration with Direk Brillante Mendoza is a full-fledged content partnership that spans culturally significant made for TV films and a 13- episode miniseries. With this partnership with Direk Brillante Mendoza, TV5 continues to uplift and improve the quality of entertainment in Philippine FREE TV.”

For his part, Director Brillante Mendoza also shares that he agreed to do this project as his advocacy for indie films, a vision that TV 5 –who has given the winning filmmaker full support for this creative inputs and brand of storytelling – also shares.

“With TV 5’s new thrust, it’s going to be a home for independent artists and independent cinema, and I am happy to be part of it. Our goal here is to tell the Filipino story, and for this, I will – like in my films –show reality and capture life the way it is on television,” shared by Director Mendoza.

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