Bona (film)

Bona is a 1980 Filipino drama film directed by Lino Brocka from a story and screenplay written by Cenen Ramones. The film tells the story of a fan becoming infatuated with the bit actor from a movie but the endless infatuation comes with unfortunate results. The film stars acclaimed actress Nora Aunor as the titular character and Phillip Salvador, one of Brocka's frequent collaborator actors, as the bit actor Gardo.

Produced by Aunor's production company NV Productions and released as one of the official entries to the 6th Metro Manila Film Festival on December 25, 1980, the film was also shown at the Directors' Fortnight of the 1981 Cannes International Film Festival, marking Brocka's second appearance at the festival and also, it gave Aunor her second "Best Actress" award from Gawad Urian.

Cast

 * Nora Aunor as Bona
 * Phillip Salvador as Gardo
 * Raquel Montesa as Nancy
 * Rustica Carpio as Bona's mother
 * Marissa Delgado as Katrina
 * Venchito Galvez as Bona's father
 * Nanding Josef as Nilo
 * Spanky Manikan as Bona's brother
 * Archi Adamos as Tambay
 * Rene Hawkins as Rene
 * Joel Lamangan as Director
 * The PETA Kalinangan Ensemble
 * Naty Mallares

Television
In the United Kingdom, the film was screened on BBC2 on February 9, 1986.

Festivals

 * 1981 - Official Selection, Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes International Film Festival
 * 1981 - Official Selection, Critics’ Choice Section, 25th London Film Festival, November 12
 * 1988 - Tribute to Directors, 10th Festival Des 3 Continents, Nantes, November 15–22
 * 1991 - Tribute to Lino Brocka, 13th Festival Des 3 Continents, Nantes, November 26 – December 3
 * 1996 - Fest96: The AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, October 26
 * 1999 - Feature Film: Tribute to Asian Master Lino Brocka, Telluride Film Festival
 * 2005 - Official Selection, Lino Brocka Retrospective, 23rd Torino Film Festival, November 15
 * 2024 - Official Selection, Cannes Classics, Cannes Film Festival

Restoration
A restored version of the film premiered at the Cannes Classics section of the 77th Cannes Film Festival from May 14 to 25, 2024. The restored version will receive a French theatrical premiere on September 25, 2024 through French distribution company Carlotta Films, headed by its founder and president Vincent Paul-Boncour. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Pearl Chan of boutique home video label, Kani Releasing, co-headed by its co-founder Ariel Esteban Cayer, said Bona will be shown in the United States and Canada. The 4K digital film restoration was carried out at Cité de Mémoire laboratory from the original 35 mm film and sound negatives by LTC Patrimoine and L.E. Diapason. Filmmaker Dodo Dayao created the English subtitles.

Critical reception
Bona has been considered as one of the Philippines' greatest movies. It was also cited as one of "The Best 100 Films in the World" by the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, USA in 1997 and has been screened in different film festivals around the world, albeit receiving mixed reviews.

Barbara Wurm, Berlin- and Vienna-based film historian, critic, and programmer, described Philippine cinema's Superstar as "the awesome Nora Aunor", during the film's screening at the 47 Vienna International Film Festival in 2009.

Stage adaptation
The Philippine Educational Theater Association staged an adaptation of the film from August 24 to September 23, 2012, at the Peta Theater Center. The adaptation was written by Layeta Bucoy and directed by Socrates "Soxie" Topacio. Eugene Domingo played Bona while Edgar Allan Guzman played Gino Sanchez, the stage counterpart of the film's Gardo.