American troops occupy a Philippine barrio in the film Amigo starring Joel Torre

WINNIPEG – Winnipeggers will have a rare glimpse of Philippine history beginning on February 10 with the showing of the film Amigo by American independent writer-director Jon Sayles.

The movie, which was filmed entirely on location in Bohol, stars Americans Chris Cooper and Garret Dillahunt with a cast of Filipino actors including Joel Torre, Rio Locsin, Ronnie Lazaro, Irma Adlawan, Bembol Roco, Pen Medina, John Arcilla, Spanky Manikan and Miguel Faustman.

Amigo is set 1900 during the Philippine-American War, a brutal period of history after the revolution against Spain when the former American allies became the enemy and the new colonial rulers of the Philippines. It is a period of history rarely told in cinema and almost completely ignored in both Philippine and American education. (See In search of the Philippine-American war film.)

In the movie, American troops hunting for Filipino guerrillas occupy a rural village headed by Rafael Dacanay (Joel Torre), whom the Americans call “Amigo.” Rafael comes under pressure to collaborate with both the blood-and-guts Colonel Hardacre (Chris Cooper) and the head of the local guerrillas, his brother Simón (Ronnie Lazaro). He must carefully make the near-impossible, potentially deadly decisions faced by civilians in an occupied country.

 “The Philippine-American War has been ignored or forgotten by both sides of the conflict, it is history that needs to be recaptured in the public imagination. Amigo deals with one of the most common but least-examined aspects of human experience – the story of the people caught in between,” said director John Sayles in a press release.

Amigo will play at Cinematheque in the Artspace Building, 100 Arthur Street at 7:00 p.m. from Friday, February 10 to Sunday, February 12 with a 9:00 p.m. show on Wednesday, February 15 and two showings on Thursday, February 16 at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.winnipegcinematheque.com.

The dialogue of Amigo is English, Filipino and Spanish with English subtitles.