Raya Martin developed the film as an homage to the early Hollywood studio system , which has greatly influence Filipino cinema . He wanted to capture the feel of films shot in the early 20th century , and this involved shooting entirely inside a studio , a practice that was popular in the early days of Hollywood cinema . Since most of the film was set in the jungle , they basically had to reconstruct a jungle location indoors . Martin 's production design team , headed by Digo Ricio , placed trees and plants both fake and real , and painted all of the backdrops for the scenes . Film critic Graham Fuller said that the film " harnesses the aesthetics and artifice of silent films and early talkies : their grammar , look , acting , and cinematographic tricks . " '' Independencia '' was one of two films from Raya Martin that were screened as official selections at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival , and was the first Filipino film to be selected for the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival . He has since garnered critical acclaim in European and Asian Film circles . Film critic Antoine Thirion considered him one of the 50 best filmmakers under 50 in the 50th issue of Cinemascope : " There ’s no Filipino director who can deny that he ’s trying to portray the particularly tragic condition of their people . But only Martin has succeeded in advancing a contemporary image , solidly set in the present yet permanently floating between ages . The mixture of fantasy and determination , of naiveté and irony necessary ( as in the exotic colonial/Hollywood pastiche of Independencia ) is only his . "
2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
Independencia (film)