Filipina American director's film to debut in theaters and Netflix August 26

Isabel Sandoval, above, stars in and directed 'Lingua FRanca.'

A Filipina American director's critically acclaimed film will premier Aug. 26 in theaters and on the same day, it will be made available on the streaming network Netflix.

In so doing, Isabel Sandoval's Lingua Franca will receive the widest exposure among her three films. The dramatic feature was directed, written, produced, edited by and starring Sandoval. The film made history at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival as the first film directed and starring an openly trans woman of color to screen in competition, reports Deadline.

In this beguiling drama, an undocumented Filipina immigrant paranoid about deportation works as a caregiver to a Russian-Jewish grandmother in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. When the American man she’s secretly paying for a green card marriage backs out, she becomes involved with a slaughterhouse worker who is unaware that she’s transgender.

Lingua Franca was recently acquired by Ava DuVernay's ARRAY Releasing, which she founded in 2012 as a collective.

“The release of Isabel Sandoval’s third film is beautifully timed to enter the national conversation at an unprecedented moment of cultural reckoning for many, especially as it relates to the rights and dignity of trans people around the world,” said ARRAY President Tilane Jones. 

“Ms. Sandoval’s introspective lens provides a depth and intimacy to her storytelling that is rarely embraced on screen. ARRAY is proud to embrace Lingua Franca and we look forward to sharing this meaningful work widely.”

DuVernay’s credits include Selma, A Wrinkle in Time, the Oscar-nominated documentary 13th and the limited Netflix series When They See Us.

The acquisition of Lingua Franca adheres to ARRAY's goal of distributing films by people of color and women. The film speaks to authentic storytelling with the New York-based, Philippine-born Sandoval in the director’s chair.

Lingua Franca is the director's third film. She previously directed the award-winning Senorita (2011) and Apparition (2012) . The Museum of Modern Art has recognized Sandoval as a “rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers.”

Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY Releasing is adding to its library of inclusive narratives with the critically acclaimed drama Lingua Franca directed, written, produced, edited by and starring Isabel Sandoval. The film will debut on Netflix and open theatrically in select cities on August 26.

Lingua Franca made history at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival Venice Days program as the first film directed and starring an openly trans woman of color to screen in competition. The film follows the story of an undocumented Filipina trans woman Olivia (Sandoval) who is the live-in caregiver for Olga (the late Lynn Cohen), an elderly Russian woman in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach neighborhood. Olivia’s main priority is to secure a green card to stay in America, but when she unexpectedly becomes romantically involved with Olga’s adult grandson Alex (Eamon Farren), issues around identity, civil rights and immigration threatens Olivia’s very existence.

“The release of Isabel Sandoval’s third film is beautifully timed to enter the national conversation at an unprecedented moment of cultural reckoning for many, especially as it relates to the rights and dignity of trans people around the world,” said ARRAY President Tilane Jones. “Ms. Sandoval’s introspective lens provides a depth and intimacy to her storytelling that is rarely embraced on screen. ARRAY is proud to embrace Lingua Franca and we look forward to sharing this meaningful work widely.”

Adhering to the vision of ARRAY, the film speaks to authentic storytelling with Sandoval in the director’s chair, who was born in the Philippines. Prior to Lingua Franca, she directed the award-winning Apparition and Senorita. The Museum of Modern Art has recognized Sandoval as a “rarity among the young generation of Filipino filmmakers.”

The deal was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano on behalf of ARRAY and Antoine Blanc of BG LAW and Lingua Franca producers Carlo Velayo, Jhett Tolentino, Darlene Malimas and Jerome Kerkman, on behalf of LUXBOX and Sandoval.

Lingua Franca is ARRAY’s fourth release for 2020. Previous releases this year include Justine from Stephanie Turner, Jezebel from Numa Perrier as well as the docuseries They’ve Gotta Have Us by Simon Frederick. Recent releases also include Spirit Award nominee and triple Tribeca Film Festival winner Burning Cane from Phillip Youmans; Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn‘s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, Samuel Bazawule’s The Burial of Kojo and Merata by Hepi Mita.