LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE

Every ticketholder will receive a free digital comic book of LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE: INTERLUDE, sporting the new Los Angeles premiere wraparound variant cover by legendary comic book artist WHILCE PORTACIO. You can also pre-order the HOLOFOIL printed edition for a limited time at bit.ly/lalumpiacomic
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Visual Communications.

Filmmakers in attendance. Film program will be followed by Q&A

17 years after the events of the first LUMPIA movie, a homegrown, no budget indie film that was produced by a group of high school buddies, the characters of the cult classic are back for some more butt-kicking, arnis-wielding, and of course, lumpia-eating. Although they are back with a bigger, crowdfunded budget, the cheesy, campy “home movie” feel still sticks like lumpia grease on your hands, but now with flashier special effects, and the same chutzpa and passion like the first chapter. This time, the LUMPIA-armed avenger reappears in Fogtown and teams up with high school student Rachel to prevent a crime syndicate from selling drugs masked as… lumpia?

LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE is the brainchild of director Patricio Ginelsa and his FilAm braintrust, including editor AJ Calomay, co-screenwriter Bernard Badion, and producers Lisa Chong and Rey Cuerdo, who all rep hard at LAAPFF with many films that have graced the Festival over the years, dating back to THE DEBUT over two decades ago. Although this latest chapter is “bigger and badder” (including a badass cameo by Danny Trejo), it is like a high school reunion, bringing back actors from the original. It’s like checking in with old friends to see how things are happening in ol’ Fogtown (aka Daly City).

Ginelsa, fueled by a lifelong obsession for comic books, Robert Rodriguez movies, and all thing fanboy, continues the fun, pastiche, and Jim Lee-esque splash pages to create a live action graphic novel. Underneath all the zaniness is a light-hearted story with undercurrents of issues that continue plaguing the Filipino community in America today, such as generational differences and infighting. However, the director and his team, now older and wiser, still ensures that this sequel doesn’t take itself too seriously, much like the first one. Audience members—Filipino and non-Filipino alike—will come out appreciating the community that nurtured this little film with a big heart. — Anderson Le

CREDITS
Director: Patricio Ginelsa
Writer: Patricio Ginelsa, Bernard Badion, Christopher Santiago
Producer: Lawrence Iriarte, Lisa Chong, Jeff Lam, Rey Cuerdo, A.J. Calomay
Executive Producer: Miki Gerelhuyag, Varinder Singh, Amrit Singh, Liza Cavan
Director of Photography: Dan Hertzog, Homer Dulu
Editor: A.J. Calomay, Patricio Ginelsa
Production Designer: Miki Rodriguez, Marsalis Adriano
Composer: Jonathan Wandag, Michael Kobayashi
Cast: Mark Muñoz, April Absynth, Danny Trejo, Francis Custodio, Edward Baon, Katrina Dimaranan, Caelan Scrivener, Earl Baylon, James Lontayao, Darion Basco, Joy Bisco