It took Martika Ramirez Escobar eight years to complete "Leonor Will Never Die"
- She had to ask for support to finance her film
- Her life savings was also used to fund the film production
- Her love for action films and grandmother served as an inspiration for the film
Childhood favorite
As a child, Martika Ramirez Escobar remembers spending afternoons watching re-runs from action films in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Leonor Will Never Die” is an action film inspired by the seventies and eighties with a twist. It is a story about a once famous filmmaker now struggling to make ends meet. An opportunity arises when she reads an ad looking for screenplays. However, fate had other plans and a freak accident led to her coma. While in a coma, she is transported into the world she was creating on paper where she is able to experience and create her own action adventure.
Life is like an action film
Growing up watching action films from the seventies and eighties with an action star leading the country, then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, made her think
“what is there in action movies that many people relate to ?”
Unusual Action Star
While most Filipino action films have a strong male lead, “Leonor Will Never Die” has a grandmother for its lead role. “I think I’m naturally fond with Lolas (grandmas), I think they are wiser, they have experienced more and discovered more about life.” One of the major influences in this film is Escobar’s grandmother,
There are times when I see or experience so much chaos in life. When life becomes overwhelming and chaotic and I talk to my Lola she never fails to show me the beauty of life through little things, through little moments. I think that is why I have a natural fondness for Lolas.Martika Ramirez Escobar
However, her female lead did not use violence to resolve problems and disputes, with Lola as her guide her character has managed to resolve issues with love using tender ways and life experience. “My Lola isn’t your typical grandmother; she is in her seventies but remains very active. She likes to constantly create, build dollhouses, and sew things, she always keeps busy. I think that is where I get my passion for creating as well, my film-making isn’t focused on making profits, I just want to create and share my story” adds Martika Ramirez Escobar.
Built from love, dedication and determination
It took Escobar eight long years before she saw the completion of the film. She did not only write and direct the film, but a huge part of the process also involved sourcing funds and finding the right people who believed and supported her vision. Her movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2022. “I also used my life savings in completing this project,” she says she does not have any ill feelings toward those who rejected her requests for support. “I understand that film-making is also a business, you’d have to know if your investment will work to your advantage.”
As a woman working in a male-dominated industry, Martika says she has gradually found ways to empower women like her by supporting and hiring women to work on her film. While she is optimistic that one day a community of female filmmakers will be as strong “I will continue to do what I love and not to solely focus with a gendered lens but also as an individual doing what she loves with people who support and believe in my story.”
