SENAKULO (2025) dir. by Aaron Laserna – Complete the Vision

Hello Everyone,

I hope this message finds you all well and in strong spirits. My name is Aaron Laserna, and I am a Filipino-American director, writer, and executive producer of the upcoming experimental documentary “Senakulo”, taking place in the Philippines, and set to release in 2025.

I was blessed enough to work alongside a team of very close friends and family alike to fully manifest this grand vision, completing principal photography and production in the spring of 2024. We are now fully in the midst of post-production, closing in on the final rounds of editing, before moving onto finishing elements. I am privileged enough to be working alongside a team of artists and creatives who have both collaborated with some of the biggest artists in the world, and who have worked on Oscar-nominated films, on post-production for this film.

This project will be one of my most cherished contributions to my heritage and culture as a Filipino, as well as my first foray into what will hopefully be a long, and fruitful career in filmmaking. I am reaching out to you all as a call to action to bring this project through to the finish line, and into the universe.

Below are some key details and information about the project.

LOGLINE

Ruben Enaje, a man locally well-known for his portrayals of Jesus Christ's Crucifixion, reflects on the twilight of his 35-year long ritual, while confronting a shifting spiritual landscape in the Philippines.

SYNOPSIS

Ruben Enaje, a man locally well-known throughout the Philippines for his portrayals of Jesus Christ’s Crucifixion, performs his 35th and final re-enactment. The film follows Enaje throughout the entirety of Holy Week, documenting his prayer, meditation, preparation, ahead of Good Friday, ultimately culminating in his performance of the Crucifixion.

ARTISTIC STATEMENT

This film is an investigation of a specific core memory of my relationship to the Philippines. I witnessed these folk-Lenten events first hand in 2005, during a trip home for my grandfather’s funeral. Upon my first sightings of the Holy Week Flagellants, childlike ideas and notions of the world and its “normality” were subsequently fractured and deconstructed, almost instantly. Seeing bandana-masked men carrying crosses, and flogging themselves, exposing flesh and blood was the most physical manifestation of what I had been taught about Jesus’ journey in Catholic school, as well as the first memories of what I came to know as Filipino Culture.

This film is both an examination of that deconstruction, as well as an unorthodox spiritual and faith journey, as I continue to deepen, challenge, question, and understand my own faith and relationship to God, through the process of making this film and telling these stories. This is my first ode to the homeland, to my lineage, to my culture, and to my family, and more importantly, an ode to Sir Ruben Enaje, and his 35-year long “Panata” or vow to God.

THE ASK

We are looking to raise an additional $20,000 in order to bring this project to full execution.

$7,500 for Score & Composition

$1,500 for Sound Design and Mix

$2,000 for Art Direction, Title Design, Credit Design, and Poster Design

$6,000 for Back Pay to Production Crew, and Editing

$2,000 for Color Post Production

$1,000 for Film Festival Submission Costs

This may sound like a lofty number to some, but if we can essentially find 200 people within the Filipino Community and Filipino-Catholic communities who would be willing to donate $100 or more, we could raise the $20,000 with ease. I am looking to lean into the Filipino community to lift myself and my team up during this Lenten season. In addition, I am leaning into my own personal communities who have felt touched by this project and it's subject matter and themes, to get us to the finish line as well. We look forward to your support.