Los Salvajes Bravos, and the 1887 Human Zoo Spain Built in Madrid

This MMFF season, one of the eight official entries in the 52nd Metro Manila Film Festival isn't a comedy or a fantasy epic. It's Los Salvajes Bravos, directed by Paolo Dy and led by Ruru Madrid, Michael de Mesa, Romnick Sarmenta, Christian Vazquez, and Arnold Reyes — a historical drama from Jesuit Communications Foundation (JesCom), the same studio behind 2023's GomBurZa. It dramatizes a real 1887 expedition: a group of Cordillera highlanders shipped from the Philippines to Madrid under a Filipino loyalist-soldier, Ismael Alzate, on what was framed as a goodwill tour. What was actually waiting for them in Spain was something closer to a cage.

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