Director Kip Oebanda says 'Bar Boys: After School' is a hopeful film

Kip Oebanda was quite sure he would step away from the director's chair for good after completing the sequel to the 2017 indie hit "Bar Boys," which serves as an entry to this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) on December 25.

- By JANUAR JUNIOR AGUJA

Now, the question of his future as a filmmaker remains a "big maybe."I really wanted to retire from filmmaking because of my mental health," Oebanda told The FREEMAN in a chat interview.

His previous film, "Balota," which starred Marian Rivera and earned the actress a Cinemalaya Best Actress award in 2024, was written as a response to the 2022 elections that saw Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. assume the presidency - an outcome that sent the filmmaker into a deep depression.

Before that, Oebanda directed the 2018 film "Liway," an autobiographical account of his parents, Cecile and Ricardo (played by Glaiza de Castro and Dominic Roco), who were political detainees during Martial Law under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., a period when Oebanda spent part of his childhood growing up in prison with them.

"The post-2022 elections were tough, and I just wanted to finish what I had started pre-pandemic. I already gave three of my scripts to other directors," he said.

While battling depression, Oebanda realized that his calling as a filmmaker still has a lingering spark that was fueled by the country's current political climate.

"As I went through my healing journey and therapy, I discovered important things about myself, and so many new things about our society made me angry," he said. "I am thinking about what to do next post-MMFF, but right now I'm focused on the current material."

His sixth feature-length film, "Bar Boys: After School," which may or may not be his swan song as a director, takes place a decade after the original. Carlo Aquino, Rocco Nacino, Enzo Pineda, and Kean Cipriano reprise their roles as Erik, Torran, Christian, and Joshua, respectively.

Oebanda said he did not intend to make a sequel until he came across a post by Henrie Famorcan Enaje, who was motivated to become a lawyer after watching "Bar Boys."