Int’l Filmmaker Shares His Passion for Filipino B-Movies
Australian guerrilla filmmaker Mr. Andrew Leavold did a screening of his documentary “The Search for Weng-Weng” at the Audio-Visual Theater on August 4, sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Committee and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
The documentary chronicles Mr. Leavold’s obsessive quest to stitch together the unbelievable life story behind Weng-Weng, the shortest Filipino actor who stood 2 feet, 9 inches. Weng-Weng was likened to James Bond for the roles that he played in movies.
Filmed over seven years in Manila, the documentary tells the ultimate history of Filipino B-Films (low budget films), taking in everything from the Golden Age of Filipino filmmaking and culture.
“You never forget your first Weng-Weng experience. Mine was watching an 8th generation VHS tape of ‘For Your Height Only’ in the early 90s with my mouth cemented to the carpet. That jaw-to-the-floor reaction has never left me, and it remains my most beloved and most watched film,” says Mr. Leavold.
Later that day he also gave a lecture titled “The Art of B-Movies” for the Albert Faurot Lecture Series at the same venue. Both the screening and lecture were open to the public for free.