...because sometimes, in the midst of the chaos, you need to write everything that's happened in chronological detail, just to gain proper perspective on just how crazy the past few decades have been!
May 1998 ‑ my article "The Wild And Wacky World Of Filipino Exploitation" was published in the University Of Qld student magazine Semper #3. It represents my first fumbling attempts at defining a Pinoy B Film sub‑genre, reviewing For Y'ur Height Only, two Bobby A. Suarez films, Nino Muhlach as Stone Boy, and Alyas Batman En Robin.
31/08/01 ‑ first screening of "Mondo Bizarro", a 90 minute compilation featuring Weng Weng clips which I toured Australia with for the following ten years. "…the most mind‑bending genre cinema from around the world! Narrated live by Trash Video's Andrew Leavold, a feature‑length collection of the wildest moments from over 50 international genre anti‑classics! This is the Twilight Zone of the film world, a warped vision of Hollywood that only an exploitation genius in Manila or Istanbul would have the tenacity to launch on an unsuspecting public. Here we travel the globe leaving no grindhouse untouched, no fleapit unbitten. We bring you the most bizarre films of all time. We give you...MONDO BIZARRO! SEE Mexican wrestling monster movies like Santo & Blue Demon vs Dracula & The Wolfman! SEE amputee kung fu action from Crippled Masters! SEE Filipino midget spies in For Y'ur Height Only! SEE the Turkish Star Wars! The Turkish Exorcist! The Japanese Planet Of The Apes! The Indian James Bond! SEE the hallucinatory Brazilian horror of Coffin Joe!"
2002 to 2003 ‑ I revoiced a French‑language VHS copy of The Impossible Kid live over five screenings. It was just myself and Lesbo-A-Go-Go actress and co‑writer Pauline Bell for three of the shows (25/09/02 and 09/04/03 at The Windery, West End). Our Woodford Folk Festival appearance (29/12/02) was in a circus tent filled with ferals, stoners, yippies, yuppies and the politically correct. Pauline and I practically threw away the literal translation on our script and cracked midget jokes for ninety minutes. In Sydney (11/01/03) we were joined by Jack Sargeant (Deathtripping author), Jaime and Aspa Leonarder from Mu Mesons Archives, where I did most of my Sydney screenings in those days, and Dr Verne Pullen (a senior Sydney Wengologist, and the person responsible for most of the misinformation on the web til now). It was a free‑for‑all! No practice, just straight into the deep end. The penultimate show in Melbourne (25/02/03) was just me and Fred Negro at F4, a swanky bar in Little Collins St during the Melbourne Underground Film Festival, getting drunker by the minute! Of course, I always got to be the voice of Weng Weng.
18/06/03 ‑ Escape From The Planet Of The Tapes, a half hour TV documentary on me and Trash Video for Australia's SBS channel, was first screened. In footage shot in late 2000, I foam at the mouth describing my favourite film "For Y'ur Height Only".
July 2005 - Pitched an idea to Big Island Pictures, the company behind the Trash documentary, for a TV series: "It involves me running around the world with a camera doing six 24 minute episodes on the weirdest film genres. Imagine David Stratton and John Saffran vs God combined...Some proposed episodes: The Search For Weng Weng. Heading to the Philippines to get the definitive story of the three foot star of For Your Height Only, and uncovering the wild and unknown story of Filipino exploitation cinema. (I've already tracked down Weng Weng's director and mentor Eddie Nicart)."
January 2006 ‑ first contacted Frech cultural attache to Singapore, Rafael Millet, via email, who then introduced me to Bobby Suarez and Marrie Lee (aka Cleopatra Wong). I interviewed both Bobby and Marrie over the phone in February 2006.
August 2006 ‑ Marrie Lee flew herself to the Brisbane International Film Festival at which I introduced two Cleopatra Wong screenings (05/08/06, 06/08/06) and hosted a "Bamboo Gods And Bionic Boys" compilation of Filipino B film clips (08/08/06). Filipino director and BIFF jury member Tikoy Aguiluz subsequently invites me to screen "Bamboo Gods" at his Cinemanila International Film Festival.
September to October 2006 ‑ I began to plan what would ultimately become The Search For Weng Weng. Applying for grant money from a Sunshine Coast funding body, I wrote: "My ultimate plan is to combine my reviews, film database and interviews into a multi‑media research project ‑ website, book, and film documentary ‑ called 'Bamboo Gods and Bionic Boys'. To my knowledge, no‑one has undertaken a research project in this area before, and I am applying to do a PhD at Griffith University this month to consolidate my research. The raw footage from my Manila trip will provide the basis for my half‑hour documentary, which I plan to sell to ABC or SBS TV." Little did I know how long the road to completion would be.
07/11/06 to 16/11/06 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #1
During my first ever manic visit to Manila, I introduced "Bamboo Gods And Bionic Boys" and "Cleopatra Wong" screenings at Tikoy's Cinemanila International Film Festival 08/11/06 (filmed by audience member Danny Castillones on a borrowed three‑chip Sony Mini‑DV camera).
Manila newspaper Sunstar covered the program in its 08/11/06 issue: "Bamboo Gods is sure to bring the house down the moment it begins playing onscreen its comprehensive overview of the most outrageous moments from the Philippines' prolific B‑film industry; a mutant stew of Hollywood genres, crazed local fold tales, and just plain bizarre ideas about what constitutes 'entertainment.'"
Edgardo "Boy" Vinarao
Over the nine days of wide‑eyed chaos I somehow managed to capture Marrie Lee's interview in her office on an initial swing through Singapore, Bobby Suarez's house visit and interview, and stumbling upon Weng Weng's editor Edgardo "Boy" Vinarao outside the Mowelfund film museum in Quezon City.
07/11/06 - Marrie Lee interview in her office, Singapore
08/11/06 - “Bamboo Gods” seminar in Manila
09/11/06 - Drive to Quezon City with Richard Suarez; Espiridon Laxa interview; Boy Vinarao conversation outside Mowelfund; Mowelfund tour; first Hobbit House visit
10/11/06 - Lav Diaz and Celso de Guzman interview - Lav and Celso then turn the camera on me; Boy Vinarao interview
11/11/06 - Drive to Bobby Suarez's home through Bulacan (never used); Bobby A. Suarez interview
13/11/06 - Quezon City's former cinema exteriors, LRT trip to Santa Cruz, pedicab ride from Recto to Santa Cruz (all never used); Bobby Suarez's office, Plaza Santa Cruz exteriors (also never used); James Gaines Jr's first interview at his Imagine Nation office in Makati (never used); Khavn's lounge in Quezon City watching movies, Khavn interview (also never used)
14/11/06 - Khavn's friends – Alexis, Kiko etc (never used); Elwood Perez first interview in Greenhills (never used)
15/11/06 - Eddie Romero (first interview) at his home in Cubao, Quezon City
16/11/06 - Tropical Hut – Steve Alcarado, Vic Balero, Roberto Gonzalez (never used); filmed part of Lav Diaz's screening at Cinemanila(also never used)
Early 2007 ‑ French B film website Nanarland published my "White Guerrilla In Manila, Or: One Man's Insane Search For The Truth Behind The Philippines B Film" in both English and French
Phone interview for Sydney radio, 03/03/07
18/02/07 to 03/03/07 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #2
The second and, in terms of uncovering the Weng Weng story, the most important visit of all.
19/02/07 - GMA TV studios (never used); Joyce Bernal interview at ABS-CBN (never used)
20/02/07 - watching Da Best In Da West at ABS-CBN TV Archives; first Goon Convention at National Bookstore, Quezon City with Eddie Nicart (first meeting), Roland Dantes, Franco Guerrero, Romy Suzara, Rusty Santos, and Rene the Leg Man.
21/02/07 - amidst the Smokey Mountain of footage not used in the finished cut includes Bruno Mattei on the set of Zombies: The Beginning at RS Video and Film Studios, Paranaque; Chito Rono and Vhong Navarro at ABS-CBN (not used); Joey Gosiengfiao at Lav Diaz's house, Quezon City (also never used); and Henry Strzalkowski at Handle Bar, Makati (his interview was reshot in 2013).
22/02/07 - Bobby Suarez's assistant director Pepito Diaz interview at Bobbys office for the Vengeance Of Cleopatra Wong bonus features (never used)
23/02/07 - Intramuros Golf Club shoot with Rusty Santos and Roland Dantes (never used), and Franco Guerrero and sons; also Franco's drive to Bobby's office (in the final cut), and footage of Franco and Jim Gaines with Bobby (never used).
24/02/07 - Peque Gallaga interview outside the Cultural Center of the Philippines; drive with Tikoy Aguiluz to Eddie Nicart's house in Taytay (used in the teaser only); and Eddie Nicart's first solo interview in Taytay.
25/02/07 - Eric Matti interview at his studio in Ortigas (never used)
26/02/07 - Bobby Suarez's cinematographers Arnold Alvaro and Jun Pereira interviewed at Bobbys office for the Vengeance Of Cleopatra Wong bonus features (never used)
27/02/07 - Weng Weng's brother Celing de la Cruz interview at his home in Pasay City, the drive to Weng Weng's family home in Baclaran, interview with Weng Weng's neighbour Rey Reloso, and Weng Weng's grave in Pasay City Cemetery; footage of Nino Muhlach dubbing his new movie in Ortigas (never used); and second Elwood Perez interview at Shangrila (later used on Mondo Macabro's Silip DVD release)
28/02/07 - Mura interview in Tondo (never used); Vengeance Of Cleopatra Wong production meeting at Bobby Suarez's office
01/03/07 - filmed cutaways (using a chair with wheels as a dolly!) at ABS-CBN Archives
02/03/07 - Willy Milan interview at his home in Quezon City (never used); Cirio H. Santiago interview at his Premiere offices, Ortigas (never used); Joseph Zucchero interview, Makati (never used)
03/03/07 - Sydney radio interview via mobile phone from Khavn's house, Quezon City (used in the rough cut only)
02/07/07 to 14/07/07 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #3
I filmed a single shot of me opening the curtains in my Brunei hotel room. After spending 24 hours each way in Brunei, at least I managed to extract one thing of value from that particularly hideous ordeal.
03/07/07 - Conrad Poe interview at the Film Academy of the Philippines (never used)
04/07/07 - Nick Deocampo interview at Mowelfund
05/07/07 - Maria Isabel Lopez interview at her home in Quezon City (also used on Mondo Macabro's Silip DVD release; Silip's production manager Alfred Santos at Mag:Net Gallery, Quezon City (Silip DVD only)
06/07/07 - Jim Gaines' second interview at his Imagine Nation studios, Makati (never used); walk through Escolta and Aveninda with Jim (also never used)
09/07/07 - Nick Nicholson interview at his Calooacan home (never used); Palito interview at National Bookstore along with Steve Alcarado and Franco Guerrero (used in The Search For Weng Weng bonus features only)
10/07/07 - Jo Mari Avellana interview at Handle Bar, Makati (never used)
11/07/07 - Dolphy interview in his favourite coffee shop in Manila; Tony Maharaj interview in Makati
12/07/07 - Eddie Garcia interview at GMA TV studios, Quezon City
13/07/07 - Imee Marcos interview, White Plains
Late July 2007 ‑ a cut‑down and revised "White Guerrilla In Manila" article was published in British magazine Firecracker Magazine #4. The Brisbane International Film Festival catalogue also published my review for Squatterpunk (Khavn de la Cruz, 2007)
21/07/07: I screened For Y'ur Height Only on my weekly cult movie show on Brisbane Community TV station Briz 31. At last count, it was the highest‑rating show on Briz 31 EVER. I then screened The Impossible Kid the following week (28/07/07) and D'Wild Wild Weng (07/07/07).
AUGUST 2007 - BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
05/08/07 - An hour‑long "Work In Progress" composite screened at the Brisbane International Film Festival: "It's part detective story, part forgotten B‑film history, and part surreal Quest for the Holy Grail ‑ that is, if the Grail is a two‑foot‑nine superstar called Weng Weng."
One audience member sent me a five page critique, and ended with: "At the end of your long and convoluted journey, you have created a little (rough‑cut) gem of cinema history that we audience members were privileged to experience for a mere $15. I believe that if Weng Weng could peer out from that abject grave, he would feel gratified by your delight in his work, and your treatment of him with a dignity that many apparently denied him during his lifetime."
Future SFWW co‑writer and co‑producer Daniel Palisa and I perform in The Brockas (me on drums, Dani on bass), accompanying director Khavn de la Cruz as we improvised a score for Khavn's film Squatterpunk. Our performance receives a standing ovation!
Khavn, Dani and I also collaborated on an experimental short film, Zombie Mariachi (eventually completed 2011) during Khavn's stay in Brisbane. "Boy meets great white zombie hunter, boy becomes zombie. Zombie meets girl, zombie loses girl, girl finds zombie. A Pinoy guerrilla musical love story - with zombies." Stars Migs Aguilizan as the Zombie Mariachi, Lesha Pavlis as the Eggnog Girl, myself as the White Supremacist (also production manager and additional camera), Scott Black, Terry Coker, Daniel Palisa (also zombie makeup), and Khavn.
21/10/07 ‑ the BIFF Rough Cut screened at Mu Meson Archives in Sydney
20/11/07 ‑ UK DVD label Mondo Macabro releases Silip (1985) with my bonus features: interviews with director Elwood Perez, actress Maria Isabel Lopez, and art director Alfred Santos.
29/11/07 ‑ officially admitted to the Masters program at Brisbane's Griffith University, Nathan Campus. The proposed thesis is entitled "BAMBOO GODS AND BIONIC BOYS: The Interplay of National Cinemas in Filipino Pulp Movies".
15/01/08 to 29/01/08 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #4
The Rez Cortez interview emerges from this batch of interviews but little else. First Philippines trip with Daniel Palisa, my future co‑writer, co‑producer, and co‑founder of our production company Death Rides A Red Horse. We screen the BIFF Rough Cut at Mogwai Cinemateque, Cubao 28/01/08
In The Search For Weng Weng book I tell of our adventures in a compound full of religious stuntmen preaching the Second Coming of Fernando Poe Jr.
28/02/08 ‑ met with Veronica Fury of Brisbane's Fury Productions to discuss coming onboard as co‑producer.
19/03/08 ‑ meeting with Anthony Mullins (Escape From The Planet Of The Tapes) for a possible collaboration as co‑writer or co‑editor. Mullins then became busy on an on‑line TV project and graciously declined.
24/03/08 ‑ will.i.am asked Dani and I to fly to Sydney and meet him in his Marriott Sydney Harbor room to discuss obtaining the rights to For Y'ur Height Only. It signaled a new direction for the Blackeyed Peas, who would perform a live soundtrack to a newly‑dubbed version by Jack Black and co, saying "it ain't about pretty girls singin' choruses anymore!" When we arrived in LA in May, the Blackeyed Peas were busy recording their new album, with Fergie providing the choruses.
May 2008 ‑ Veronica Fury officially signed on as co‑producer. The rights to The Search For Weng Weng were transferred to Brisbane's Fury Productions for a dollar. On 23/05/08, Veronica and the project's transitional editor Jane Franken uploaded a teaser to Youtube.
27/05/08 to JUNE 2008 - FAILED USA SHOOT
Daniel Palisa and I travelled all the way to California to interview Cora Caballes, at her invitation. She never picked up the phone once. There was a priceless shot of me sitting in a Cajuanco Street gutter, Hollwood sign in the background, as I dialled Cora on my final day in the US and left a pitiful message on her answering machine. Interviewed Jack Hill, Sam Sherman and Brian Trenchard‑Smith, the footage of which ended up in the vault.
I later wrote about our doomed bus trip from LA to Las Vegas, where found the soiled remains of the American Dream on a Greyhound.
24/10/08 ‑ Sydney filmmaker Brendan Young assigned by ABC to come aboard as co‑director. Veronica, Brendan and I applied to Screen Australia for time‑critical funds in time for my fifth visit. Brendan's vision for the film was close to mind, though he favoured the "personal journey" angle over Weng Weng's story itself. From Brendan's Director Statement: "The Search For Weng Weng aims to work on three levels: It chronicles and charts the impact obsession has on the life of a well‑intentioned but very compulsive individual; the subject of the obsession, Weng Weng, unveils as an intimate first person narrative quest û a kind of quasi detective story which also reveals often startling, intriguing and at times, a disturbing perspective on the show business of exploitation in the third world, and finally, while on the journey to uncover the truth behind Weng Weng, Andrew triggers off a sweeping and dynamic overview on the history of genre filmmaking in the one of the world's most prolific and active productive film industries: The Philippines."
Brendan Young films me in Quezon City, November 2008
My rationale to Screen Australia: "Out of my five visits to the Philippines researching and shooting The Search For Weng Weng, this November trip is perhaps the most important, as it's the only logical coda to the film, and perfectly illustrates an essential theme and narrative arc: a bizarre Coming of Age saga, in which I complete the journey from enthusiastic outsider and amateur filmmaker to recognized authority, visiting academic, cultural commentator and B film revisionist.
"The Pinoy B film was understandably ghettoized by its own academics, filmmakers and audiences alike as an entirely disposable and nutritionally empty confection. I must admit I sensed a certain degree of resistance and puzzlement to my initial burst of blissfully innocent and self‑absorbed enthusiasm for Weng Weng and his fellow B‑film contemporaries; this, I discovered after immersing myself more fully in their collective consciousness, is akin to our own 'cultural cringe', borne out of a post‑colonial nation's need for serious currency in high art filmic dialogue. Lo and behold: Weng Weng was under their very nose, a two foot nine time capsule who reveals far more about their own pop cinema history than they ever imagined.
"The Search For Weng Weng has taken me to some very strange places, but none as unexpected as a cinema conference and film school, delivering a revisionist interpretation of B filmmaking in the Philippines. Now I'm able to take Weng Weng with me as my avatar, and through the documentary, chart his own elevation from poster child for the Philippines' cultural cringe to pride of place in Pinoy post‑modernism, and from novelty act and forgotten denizen of the smoking rubbish pile of Pinoy pop culture, to a metaphoric giant killer with a swing far greater than his kung fu antics combined."
Sharing a joke with Nick Nicholson
12/11/08 to 29/11/08 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #5
Delivered "Bamboo Gods And Bionic Boys" paper at the Annual South East Asian Cinema Conference at Ataneo University, Quezon City, November 2008; also delivered lectures on Filipino B film history at University Of The Philippines, Quezon City, and at the Asia Pacific Film Institute.
Brendan Young arrived in Manila soon after, and filmed over ten hours of footage, including the Tikoy Aguiluz and Tilman Baumgaertel interviews for the final cut. Sequences filmed but never used include Nick Nicholson's house and final visit with Henry Strzalkowski, me at Hobbit House and at Mura's karaoke playhouse, and my UP talk. The Nicholson and Hobbit House footage was cobbled together into a ten‑minute Time Critical edit for ABC and Screen Australia.
December 2008 ‑ "21 Greatest Pinoy B‑Movies" article co‑written with Lourd de Veyra appears in FHM Magazine Philippines
2009 to 2010 - FROM "WENG WENG" TO "MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED!"
February 2009 ‑ ABC TV tentatively commissions "The Search For Weng Weng"
15/03/09 ‑ "Your Story" podcast interview with Ian Kath, conducted immediately after the ABC issued the tentative letter of commission. "Now Andrew has funding for the completion of the documentary film that has been started and can look forward to returning to the Philippines to tie all the story line together for release for all of us to see. Hopefully sometime in 2010. This is a story of someone having a dream with no comprehension of how to do it and being able to manage to pull it off."
19/06/09 ‑ Confirmation of MPhil candidature session at Griffith University, Nathan Campus, approved by Griffith 29/10/09. Albert recommended to the panel that the Masters be upgraded to a PhD, and was approved 11/03/10.
04/07/09 ‑ mentioned in Eric S. Caruncho's article "Pinoy Cult Films: The Cinema that Won't Die", published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Roy Frumkes and I
07/07/09 ‑ lecture on Filipino Horror for Roy Frumkes' horror course, School of Visual Arts, New York City
Late 2009 ‑ ABC requested a more essay‑based documentary and "requested" Not Quite Hollywood director Mark Hartley take over the project.
16/08/09 ‑ Veronica and I flew Mark to Brisbane to pitch the project to him. Much to my horror and disappointment, Hartley decided to ditch the Weng Weng story in favour of a much broader history of Americans making B films in the Philippines. I was subsequently asked by Veronica to step down from co‑director and co‑writer to Associate Producer. After I hand over my footage and research to Hartley, my involvement is diminished dramatically. With Hartley as director, writer and Associate Producer, additional funding appears via Screen Victoria, Screen Queensland and the Melbourne International Film Festival Premiere Fund.
February 2010 ‑ Bobby Suarez passed away. Mark Hartley's team filmed interviews in the US, Europe, Manila and Singapore.
10/02/10 ‑ mentioned in Bernice Bautista's "Pinoy B Movies For Beginners" article, Juice magazine: "According to Pinoy B‑movie junkie and film critic/historian Andrew Leavold... even an A‑list filmmaker can join the fray by dipping into a disreputable genre like softcore porn."
30/06/10 ‑ interview on "Conversations With Richard Fidler", ABC Local Radio, in which I tell stories from Manila.
24/07/10 ‑ Machete Maidens Unleashed! world premiere at the Melbourne International Film Festival. Mark Hartley and I attended the Queensland premiere at the Brisbane International Film Festival 11/11/10
September 2010 ‑ US DVD label Dark Sky/MPI released two Bobby A. Surez features, "They Call Her Cleopatra Wong" and "The One‑Armed Executioner", and included my interviews with Bobby and Nigel Hogge as bonus features.
18/10/10 to 05/11/10 - PHILIPPINES VISIT #6
No footage shot. Instead I concentrated on the academic side of things, delivering my "Pinoy Grindhouse" lectures at Ateneo University, Quezon City 20/10/10 and University of the Philippines Film Centre (UPFI), Quezon City 04/11/10. I also introduced "Pinoy Halloween" screenings at Asia Pacific Film Institute, Manila 30/10/10 and at Fully Booked, Fort Bonifacio 31/10/10
04/11/10 ‑ "Pinoy Grindhouse" Lecture and sneak preview of "Machete Maidens Unleashed!" at UP Film Center. One attendee later wrote about the evening on their Sinepatrol blog; another on their "Persistence Of Vision" blog
January 2011 ‑ I wrote about the trip as the "Pop Culture Postcard: Philippines" article in Issue 3 of Sydney online magazine Wordy Mofo
Early 2011 ‑ Filipino artist Ronald Tan published "For Your Height Only", a comic "based on the research by Andrew Leavold". Ronald's drawings later appear in TSFWW finished cut.
16/02/11 ‑ Delivered my "Last Tangos In Manila" paper on Filipino bomba and bold cinema at the Erotic Screen Conference at the Griffith University QCA campus, Brisbane
May 2011 ‑ interview in Status Magazine article "A Man, A Plan, An Archipelago"
17/06/11 to 01/07/11 ‑ PHILIPPINES VISIT #7
Once again, no footage shot. Caught in a typhoon. After a visit with Jo Mari Avellana, he passed away a few days later and within the week I was attending his wake.
Delivered "Last Tangos In Manila" paper at the UP College Of Mass Communication, Quezon City 23/06/11
26/07/11 ‑ mentioned in Filipino blog The Ayson Chronicles' article "Reliving the Cult of Weng Weng: For Your Height Only". "Hardcore Aussie Weng Weng fan Andrew Leavold (of the late lamented Brisbane‑based Trash Video store TrashVideo.com.au) may still end up releasing his long awaited 'The Search for Weng Weng' documentary, which has been in the works for years."
13/11/11 ‑ programmed and introduced "ASWANG! FILIPINO NEW BLOOD" double bill of Richard Somes' Yanggaw and Rico Ilarde's Altar at Monster Pictures' Fantastic Asian Film Festival, Melbourne. Bayani San Diego wrote about the program in the Philippine Daily Inquirer 03/11/11
25/04/12 ‑ "The Tanduay Rum Diaries: The Most Famous Cross‑Dressing Midget In The Philippines (At This Present Moment)", a piece on my July 2007 encounter with Mura, is published on the Mondo Macabro blog
22/06/12 ‑ I wrote a brief article titled "Weng Weng And My Love Affair With Pinoy B Films" for the GMA News website: "All lifelong obsessions have to start somewhere. Mine? Seeing a two‑foot nine James Bond use a three‑foot villain named Mr Giant as a punching bag."
25/06/12 to 16/07/12 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #8
Lecture Tour of the Philippines: "Bamboo Gods And Bionic Boys" lecture/screening at UP Diliman 11/07/12, University Of San Carlos in Cebu 04/07/12, and UP Baguio 13/07/12; "Search For Weng Weng" talk at UP Diliman 27/06/12; "James Batman" screening and intro in Baguio 12/07/12; and "Bruceploitation" talk/Game Of Death screening at JIV Manila Art Gallery 11/07/12
The Imelda Marcos interview, along with the footage from our visit to the Marcos' home province of Ilocos Norte, prompted Daniel and I to consider resurrecting the original idea of the Weng Weng documentary. An interview with us, entitled "You, Me and Imelda: BrisbaneFilmmakers' Unexpected Philippines Adventure" by Dan Nancarrow, was published in the Brisbane Times and Sydney Morning Herald 01/09/12
21/07/12 ‑ "Sex, Blood, And Betamax Tapes" interview by Don Jaucian published in The Philippine Star
Late 2012 ‑ my bonus features appear on Germany's FilmArt DVD release of "For Y'ur Height Only": "The Story Of Weng" featurette, (actually the three Schlock Treatment intos edited together) and a truncated version of "The Story Of Weng Weng" essay. Edwin Sallan interviews me for Manila news website InterAksyon about the release: "Long Time Weng Weng Fan Announces DVD Release Of 'For Your Height Only', Documentary To Follow"
Late 2012 ‑ my extended article "The Story Of Weng Weng" is published in UK journal Filmrage, Volume 2 #11
October 2012 ‑ my essay "The Great Manila Cinema Heist! A Brief History of Philippine Parody and Outright Thievery In The Country That Copyright Forgot, Part One", which includes Weng Weng's spy and western parodies, is published in Mike White's US film journal Cashiers Du Cinemart #17
December 2012 ‑ A friend of mine, Drew White, mentions crowdfunding via Kickstarter as a viable means of completing the film. Fury Productions gave back the rights to the "Search For Weng Weng" project.
MARCH to MAY 2013 - KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
06/03/13 ‑ "The Wild, Wild Weng Weng" interview by Bob Baker Fish on the Monster Pictures website
08/03/13 ‑ "The Gentlemen's Guide To Midnight Cinema" podcast interview with Tim Merrill. "Tune in as Andrew does his best to bring our listeners up to size on his infatuation with Weng Weng, a tale that has grown to epic proportions!!!"
09/03/13 ‑ the Kickstarter campaign is officially launched at the Luwow Tiki Bar in Melbourne's Fitroy district, to a small but appreciative audience who get to see two extended sequences, plus "D'Wild Wild Weng" in its entirety. Red Horse beer and rum cocktails made Daniel and I feel like we'd never left Manila.
12/03/13 ‑ "The Projection Booth" podcast interview with Mike White and Robert St Mar
15/03/13 ‑ Screening of three sequences at the Queensland State Library theatre, South Brisbane
07/04/13 ‑ THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG was the featured project‑in‑progress at Film Pulse. A Film Pulse Podcast interview followed on 15/04/13
17/04/13 ‑ 3RRR Radio interview
17/04/13 ‑ "Obsessed Movie Buff Makes Weng Weng Docu" interview with Bayani San Diego in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
19/04/13 ‑ "The Search For Weng Weng" gets a mention on the Fangoria website thanks to Lee Gambin
22/04/13 ‑ Skype interview screened on GMA‑7 TV's current affairs show "Brigada", in a story on Weng Weng. Also interviewed were Celing de la Cruz, and Weng Weng's co‑star in "For Y'ur Height Only", Carmi Martin.
23/04/13 ‑ "Andrew Leavold stops by The Momus Report to talk about the Kickstarter campaign behind his film The Search For Weng Weng, as well as tell some tales involving religious cults, a birthday party for Imelda Marcos and the poignant life of Weng Weng himself. Also possibly the only time you'll hear Brooke Shields and David Lean in the same sentence."
23/04/13 ‑ " Ladies and gentlemen: I woke this morning to discover our Kickstarter campaign had jumped from 52% of our $30,000 goal to 85%, thanks to ONE mystery benefactor and their magnificent $10,000 pledge!!! I LITERALLY wept for joy, to think that our film is now within reach! Please keep the support coming, as it means so much to me on a personal level as well as professionally, and to everyone who has pledged so far: THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"
29/04/13 ‑ I did live narration over a longer composite cut (just over 90 minutes) screened at the Chauvel Cinema's Cinemateque, Sydney; Jack Sargeant hosted the Q&A, and despite the disappointing turnout, it was a fun night.
29/04/13 ‑ "THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG KICKSTARTER ‑ ONLY 7 DAYS TO GO and we'd love you all to be a part of our movie on the two‑foot‑nine Filipino James Bond! Just make a Kickstarter pledge no matter how large or small, snap a shot with an "I Heart Weng Weng" message, friend me and and tag me, and we'll add your photo to The Search For Weng Weng's end credits..."
30/04/13 ‑ Fundraising evening at The End (the former Trash Video) in West End, Brisbane. "With less than three weeks til the finish line, its Brisbane creators are throwing a party to show how much THEY love Weng Weng. Please join Andrew Leavold, former proprietor of Trash Video, and co‑writer/co‑producer Daniel Palisa, as they rattle the fundraising can, serve up some Weng Weng cocktails, auction off some goodies, tell Manila war stories, and oversee the I Heart WengWeng photo booth, the images appearing in the movie's closing credits."
May 2013 ‑ ABC Radio's "Movieland" interview with CJ Johnson
07/05/13 ‑ "It Ended Badly For Weng Weng": interview in Sunshine Coast Daily
07/05/13 ‑ "WE MADE IT TO OUR $30,000 GOAL! A million thanks to everyone who pledged, this has been a monumental group effort akin to a global Amish barnraising. Please keep those pledges and photos coming in, because the more we raise, the more polished a film we can produce. Once again, thank you thank you THANK YOU!!!"
09/05/13 ‑ Even longer cut (105 minutes) screened at The Time Machine, Nambour, Sunshine Coast guests are also invited to contribute "I Heart Weng Weng" shots.
12/05/13 ‑ "WE DID IT!!!" Kickstarter campaign successfully completed. Pledges from 333 individuals totalling $34,073 help funded the final shoot and post‑production.
28/05/13 ‑ Eddie Romero passed away. Bayani San Diego Jr quotes me in his "Stories about a master storyteller" article, Philippine Daily Inquirer 30/05/13: "Leavold remembered Romero's 'dry humor, self‑deprecating wit, generosity [and] fearless command of the cinematic language.' They would talk for hours, he said. 'He humored me about his trashy B movies, which he knew I adored. In his home, I had the best coffee, imported from South America.'"
With the late Jim Turner (centre) and his Hobbit House staff
31/05/13 to 21/06/13 - PHILIPPINES SHOOT #9, FINAL
Kristine "Kints" Kitana officially signed on as our Philippines' Line Producer, and Jordan Arabejo as Director of Photography. The Kickstarter pledges funded rentals of a Canon C300 camera and a smaller DSLR camera.
Day #1 (13/06/13) ‑ Henry Strzalkowki interview, and screened a two‑hour "Rough As Weng's Guts" cut ‑ at two hours, the longest version to date! ‑ at H&J Bar, Makati. Jordan filmed the audience watched my opening and closing speeches for the final version's wraparound sequences.
Day #2 (14/06/13) ‑ A day full of profound surprises and revelations. From filming sequences at Our Mother Of Perpetual Help, the Baclaran shrine where Weng Weng's mother constantly prayed during pregnancy, to filming a second extended interview with Weng's family, to finally recording Weng's first director Dante Boy Pangilinan filling in the missing pieces of the early films and relationship with his producers, it was a dream day, and I can safely say THIS FILM IS GOING TO BE FANTASTIC!
Day #3 (15/06/13) ‑ Interviews with Ed Lejano and Teddy Co, and Don Gordon Bell.
Pick‑Up Shoots, mid-June ‑ follow‑up interviews with Eddie Nicart, and Daniel and I visiting Hobbit House
AUGUST to SEPTEMBER 2013 - THE FINAL SPRINT TO THE FINISH LINE
August to September 2013 ‑ second unit by Jet Leyco and Kristine Kintana ‑ segues, street scenes, traffic chaos, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and the very last two interviews ‑ John Kater and Pia Moran (both shot by Kristine).
03/08/13 ‑ The "Cinemalaya Cut" (a 90 minute cut‑down version of the H&J Cut) screened as a work‑in‑progress at Cinemalaya: Philippine Independent Film Festival, Manila, with a filmed introduction by Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa. Edwin P. Sallan at Interaksyon (03/08/13) helps promote the film: "Rough Cut Of Weng Weng Docu To Be Screened At Cinemalaya"
10/08/13 ‑ ABC Radio National interview in which Daniel Palisa and I waxed poetic with Sarah Kanowski about Manila adventures and our 2'9" avatar...
September 2013 ‑ The film I made my local acting debut in, OTSO by Elwood Perez, screened from September 11th as part of the FDCP's Sineng Pambansa All‑Masters National Film Festival. I play the main character's American father, and get to utter the immortal words "Wow...you really like ponies, don't you?" The reviews came in soon after: "What film can combine diverse characters and issues such as Anita Linda (playing herself), a pair of porn stars, a fresh, young scriptwriter, B‑film fanatic Andrew Leavold, and the issue of pork barrel and pull it off?"
03/09/13 ‑ "Weng Weng, The Secret Agent Who Punched Above His Weight" - A thoughtful and beautifully written love letter to Ernesto by Sydney writer and culture vulture Lucia Elliott, and not just because she mentions TSFWW, or was kind enough to ask for some quotes on the little guy!
September 2013 ‑ First Monster Pictures blog entry, on the Imelda Marcos visit: "Stuck In Ilocos Norte With The Weng Weng Blues Again"
11/09/13 ‑ in conversation with Steve Saragossi at The Fox Hotel, South Brisbane, discussing low‑ to no‑budget filmmaking and screening clips from my projects Lesbo A‑Go‑Go, Bluebirds of Peace And Destruction, Apocalypse Mao, Zombie Mariachi (Daniel Palisa and I collaborating with Filipino filmmaker Khavn De La Cruz), and of course, the Baclaran neighbourhood and cemetery sequence from "Search For Weng Weng".
October 2013 ‑ 200+ page WENG'S CHOP #4 published in the US featuring, among its myriad of dubious delights, a "Search For Weng Weng: Final Shoot Diary" with a special SFWW commemorative cover (artwork by Matt O'Neill)
08/11/13 to 03/12/13 - POST-PRODUCTION, MANILA PREMIERE
November 2013 ‑ Jim's finished cut on hard drive arrives in Manila, for colour grading at Outpost Visual Frontier in San Juan, while the sound mix was completed by by Corinne de San Jose (On The Job).
09/11/13 ‑ introduced Gerry de Leon's gothic horror masterpiece LILET (1971), a free screening at 4pm at the CCP as part of the 100th Anniversary of Gerry de Leon, and hosted a Q&A with its stars Celia Rodriguez and Ronaldo Valdez.
28/11/13 ‑ InterAksyo's Edwin P. Sallan promoted the SFWW premiere in "TheSearch for Weng Weng to have world premiere at UP Film Center"
29/11/13 ‑ World Premiere at the University of the Philippines Cine Adarna, UP Film Center. Present were the main creative team: me, co‑writer/producer Daniel Palisa and soundtrack star Roy Arabejo (Australia), editor Jim Scott (UK), line producer Kristine Kintana, cinematographer Jordan Arabejo, cartoonist Ronald Tan, Weng Weng's family, Eddie Nicart, Weng Weng's co‑stars Pia Moran, Jim Gaines Jr, Franco Guerrero, SFWW interviewees, and many more. Special Effects Queen Cecille Baun presents me with a life‑size bust of Weng Weng's head...cast from an actual life‑mask she took in the early 80s! I can quite safely say: greatest gift EVER.
02/12/13 ‑ Interviewed for a GMA‑7 TV profile on Weng Weng. Filmed outside Weng Weng's Baclaran home, at brother Celing's house in Malibay, and at Weng Weng's grave in Pasay City Cemetery. The sense of the past seven years coming full circle was overwhelming!
December 2013 ‑ Ren Aguila's review "The Search for Weng Weng tells untold stories" on GMA website: "a tight weave of film clips, interviews, and the story of de la Cruz, told in part in pencil sketches by illustrator Ronald Tan. There are moments of light humor and unintentional surrealism, especially in the Ilocos Norte sequence where Leavold and crew visit the former First Lady. The story ends on a note that is as abrupt as the end of de la Cruz's career, avoiding a sentimentalism that would have otherwise ruined the moment."
05/12/13 ‑ "The Search For Weng Weng" received a worthy mention in Lilit Reyes' "The Year of Filipino‑Themed Foreign Films" article on the Philippines through the lens of foreigners: "The heartstring it pulled was how others make money on a misfit, but the exploited ended up with nothing and died poor."
07/12/13 ‑ "8 Things To Dig In The Search For Weng Weng" article by Tzaddi Salazar, on the 8 List website: "While Leavold's voice and obsession with the midget from Baclaran fuels this docu, it is ultimately his good intentions and love for Pinoy movies that both guides and protects him on his journey to discovery and catharsis."
10/12/13 ‑ Weng Weng profile on Manila's GMA7 TV show "Tunay Na Buhay" featured "The Search For Weng Weng" premiere and clips, interviews with me, Weng's brother Celing and Eddie Nicart, co‑star (and SFWW inviewee) Pia Moran, and me and sister‑in‑law Editha going to the grave. In the words of host Rhea Santos, "Pinoy James Bond Weng Weng has been forgotten but these Australian filmmakers will make us remember him ... Hoping that extras, sidekicks, etc will never be taken for granted."
11/12/13 ‑ Private cast and crew screening at The Box, West End. Kellie Lloyd: "I am immensely proud of my friend (and former boss) Andrew Leavold for his soaring talent and staggering determination to make his doco Search For Weng Weng, it's a triumph on so many levels."
12/12/13 ‑ Radio interview on Brisbane's 612 ABC Local talking all things small and Filipino!
13/12/13 ‑ First screening for Melbourne's Monster Pictures, Australian distributor and international sales agent. The response was unanimously positive.
21/12/13 ‑ Screening at Cinemanila International Film Festival, SM Cinema Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. Ours was the third highest attendance at the festival.
Late December 2013 ‑ Listed as one of the Philippines' top films of 2013 by Adrian Mendizabal
January 2014 ‑ NCCA approves funds to tour the Philippines in April
04/01/14 ‑ "Weng Weng Lives!" interview and profile by Eric S. Caruncho in the Sunday Inquirer
January 2014 ‑ "The Search For Weng Weng" named one of the best films of 2013 by critic Noel Vera, who lists our film in US magazine Businessworld alongside Scorsese, Malick, Wong Kar Wai, American Hustle and Lav Diaz's "Norte": "...what Leavold reveals in his prodigiously affectionate piece of cinejournalism is that there are arcane pleasures to be found in this more disreputable branch of Philippine cinema..."
28/03/14 - PERTH, AUSTRALIA, Monster Fest Perth at the Luna Palace Outdoor cinema, Leederville [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
MAY to JULY 2014 - EUROPEAN TOUR
01/05/14 - UDINE, ITALY, Udine Far East Film Festival [Andrew Leavold in attendance]. My introduction is on Youtube here; I was later interviewed by the festival about the film here.
20/05/2014 - CANNES, FRANCE, Marche du Film screening at Gray Cinema 3 [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
24/05/16 - The Cannes Market screening sparked an interview with Edwin Sallan on the InterAksyon website: "After 32 Years, Weng Weng Returns To Cannes With Documentary"
27/05/14 - LONDON, UK, closing night film of the Terracotta Far East Film Festival's Focus on Philippines program, ICA [Andrew Leavold and Jim Scott in attendance] *WINNER Audience Award, Focus on Philippines
05/06/14 - MANCHESTER, UK, The Cornerhouse [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
10/06/14 - SHEFFIELD, UK, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Odeon [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/06/14 - BERLIN, GERMANY, Mobile Kino outdoor screening at an industrial park in Griessmühle, Neukölln [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
17/06/14 - BERLIN, GERMANY, Z-Bar [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
19/06/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, Pas de Pitié Pour Les Navets screening (first 20 mins only), La Cantada II, plus The Impossible Kid in its original French dubbing [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
26/06/14 - COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, Husets Biograf [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
17/07/14 - VIC, SPAIN, Festival Nits de Cinema Orientale (Asian Summer Film Festival), Espai ETC, followed by Filipino B Film Masterclass [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
18/07/14 - BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY, Cinestrange Film Festival, C1 Cinema
29/07/14 - MONTREAL, CANADA, Fantasia International Film Festival, J.A. de Sève
Kristine "Kints" Kintana and I, Ilo-Ilo Airport
AUGUST 2014 - PHILIPPINES FILM TOUR
01/08/14 - BAGUIO, PHILIPPINES, Baguio Cinemateque [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
04/08/14 - DUMAGUETE, PHILIPPINES, Siliman University [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance] plus lecture
04/08/14 - MONTREAL, CANADA, Fantasia International Film Festival, J.A. de Sève
05/08/14 - CEBU, PHILIPPINES, University of San Carlos [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
07/08/14 - ILOILO, PHILIPPINES, FDCP Cinemateque, Iloilo City [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
10/08/14 - MANILA, PHILIPPINES, private screening and street party in Weng Weng's neighbourhood, Baclaran [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
11/08/14 - MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Heckle and Jeckle Bar, Makati [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
14/08/14 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), ACMI 2 [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance] "In Search Of Weng Weng, The Pint-Sized James Bond Of Filipino Film” interview with Jake Wilson appeared a week before in Melbourne newspaper The Age (07/08/14)
16/08/14 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), Treasury Theatre [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
01/09/14 - HOLLYWOOD, USA, Everything Is Festival at Cinefamily, Silent Movie Theatre
04/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
06/09/14 - BREDA, NETHERLANDS, BUT (B-Grade Underground and Trash) Film Festival
07/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
07/09/14 - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF), Treasury Theatre, Marrickville [Andrew Leavold in attendance]. The rowdy post-screening Q and A compered by Jaimie Leonarder (Mu Meson Archives) was filmed by Jarret Gahan and released on The Search For Weng Weng's DVD bonus features in all territories except Sweden.
10/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
12/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
13/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
14/09/14 - PARIS, FRANCE, L'Etrange Festival, Forum des Images
26/09/14 - "Andrew Leavold’la The Search For Weng Weng Hakkında" Interview with Can Yalçınkaya on the Turkish website Oteki Sinema (English translation here)
17/10/14 - LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND, Lausanne Underground Film Festival at Le Capitole
24/10/14 - SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, Mu Meson Archives, Annandale [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
30/10/14 - VIENNA, AUSTRIA, Vienna International Film Festival, Stadtkino im Künstlerhaus
01/11/14 - VIENNA, AUSTRIA, Vienna International Film Festival, Metro, Großer Saal
08/11/14 - SAN DIEGO, USA, San Diego Asian Film Festival, UltraStar Mission Valley
08/11/14 - BRUGES, BELGIUM, Razorreel Flanders Film Festival, Cinema Liberty
13/11/14 - BOGOTA, COLOMBIA, Zinema Zombie Fest, Cinemateca Distrital
15/11/14 - SAN DIEGO, USA, San Diego Asian Film Festival, La Paloma Theatre
27/11/14 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, DVD Launch at Monster Fest, Yah Yah's, Collingwood [Andrew Leavold in attendance] *WINNER: Monster Spirit Award
04/12/14 - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, Palace Barracks, Petrie Terrace [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
Me with the Chuds (Weng Weng Rap), Toronto
DECEMBER 2014 - US/CANADA TOUR
06/12/14 - SAN DIEGO, USA, Ken Cinema [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
08/12/14 - PHOENIX, USA, FilmBar [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/12/14 - SAN FRANCISCO, USA, opening film of FACINE/21: 21st Annual Filipino International Cina Festival at the Roxie [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
12/12/14 - CHICAGO, USA, Chicago Filmmakers, presented by the Chicago Cinema Society [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
13/12/14 - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, Palace Barracks, Petrie Terrace
13/12/14 - NEW YORK, USA, midnight session at the Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg, Brooklyn [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
14/12/14 - YONKERS, USA, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
15/12/14 - PHILADELPHIA, USA, Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art (PhilaMOCA) [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
17/12/14 - DETROIT, USA, Cinema Detroit [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
18/12/14 - TORONTO, CANADA, The Royal, with an afternoon in-store appearance at Eyesore Cinema [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
19/12/14 - OTTOWA, CANADA, Mayfair Theatre [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
21/12/14 - HOLLYWOOD, USA, Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
December 2014 - Australian DVD release via Monster Pictures, followed by its UK release in February 2015 via Monster Pictures UK
09/01/15 - SASKATOON, CANADA, The Broadway Theatre [Jim Scott in attendance]
22/01/15 - ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, International Film Festival Rotterdam, LantarenVenster
27/01/15 - ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Cinerama
31/01/15 - ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Cinerama
07/02/15 - NAMBOUR, AUSTRALIA, The Time Machine [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
19/02/15 - "Film of dwarf ‘James Bond’ a global smash" Interview with Scott Sawyer in the Sunshine Coast Daily
08/02/15 - SAN FRANCISCO, USA, SF Indie Fest at the Roxie
21/02/15 - WILMINGTON, USA, Fringe Wilmington Festival, Nemours, Wilmington, Delaware
22/02/15 - WILMINGTON, USA, Fringe Wilmington Festival, Nemours, Wilmington, Delaware
06/03/15 - TOOWOOMBA, AUSTRALIA, The Australian Cultural Library [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/04/15 - SINGAPORE, South East Asian Film Festival, Singapore Art Museum [Andrew Leavold in attendance] The lively post-screening Q&A conducted by fellow filmmaker Chew Tze Chuan is on Youtube in its entirety here.
Earlier in the day, Marrie Lee filmed my small role as funeral mourner for her debut feature as director, Certified Dead (released 2016).
11/04/15 - BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, Titanic Film Festival, Toldi Cinema
13/04/15 - BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, Titanic Film Festival, Toldi Cinema
17/04/15 - DAVAO, PHILIPPINES three screenings at UP [University of the Philippines] Salida
20/06/15 - DETROIT, USA, Cinema Detroit, on a double bill with For Y'ur Height Only [Andrew Leavold Q and A via Skype from Manila]
30/06/15 - MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Archivo 1985 Gallery, Makati [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
16/07/15 - MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Heckle and Jeckle Bar, Makati [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
02/09/15 - MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Pinapple Lab, Makatu [Daniel Palisa in attendance]
13/09/15 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, Melbourne Underground Film Festival (MUFF), Backlot Studios [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
November 2015 - "El Asombroso Coloso Filipino Con Licencia Para Molar!" Interview with Domingo Lopez published in Spanish magazine 2000 Maniacos #48
04/11/15 - ANGELES CITY, PHILIPPINES [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
06/12/15 - LUANG PRABANG, LAOS, Luang Prabang Film Festival
31/01/16 - MADRID, SPAIN, CutreCon film festival, Palacio de la Prensa Cinema
08/04/16 – GOLD COAST, AUSTRALIA, “Cinefiend” Art Exhibition at Hillier and Skuse Gallery, Bundall [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
07/09/16 – SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA, Caloundra Film Festival screening at the Bison Bar, Nambour [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
19/10/16 – MANILA, PHILIPPINES, Alamat Bar, Makati [Andrew Leavold and Daniel Palisa in attendance]
October 2014 - Swedish DVD release (as "De Kallar Mig Minibond") via Studio S Entertainment
CANCELLED 04/11/16 – KAMPOT, CAMBODIA, Kampot Writers and Readers Festival [the whole film program collapsed due to poor planning]
December 2016 - North American DVD release via US company Wild Eye Releasing
20/03/17 - PORTLAND, USA, Hollywood Theatre
BOOK LAUNCH AND SCREENING TOUR, AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND March and April 2017
29/03/17 - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, New Globe Theatre, Fortitude Valley [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
POSTPONED 30/03/17 - SUNSHINE COAST, AUSTRALIA, the Bison Bar in Nambour [Cyclone Debbie closed down the whole of South East Queensland]
03/04/17 – MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA, Astor Cinema, St Kilda [Andrew Leavold in attendance; Q and A hosted by Fatal Visions' Michael Helms] Filmed talk is on the Cult of Monster website here;
05/04/17 – SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, Ritz Cinema, Randwick [Andrew Leavold in attendance; Q and A hosted by Filmink's Travis Johnson] Photos of the event are on the SBS Filipino Radio website here
07/04/17 – ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, Mercury Cinema [Andrew Leavold in attendance; Q and A hosted by Dick Dale]
09/04/17 – DUNEDIN, NEW ZEALAND, Dunedin Public Art Gallery [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
12/04/17 – WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND, Roxy Cinema, Miramar [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
03/05/17 - BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA, "Wine, Women And Weng Weng" book reading at the Junk Bar in Annerley, with musical backing by Syke Staniford and Hannah Jane [Andrew Leavold in attendance] First filmed half of the performance is on Youtube here
20/05/17 - TOOWOOMBA, AUSTRALIA, book launch and screening for the Australian Cultural Library's fifth birthday celebrations [Andrew Leavold in attendance]
12/06/17 – SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Rooty Hill RSL [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A - Andrew Leavold in attendance]
13/06/17 – SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Jaimie and Aspasia Leonarder's Cult Sinema Obscura Public House Petersham [clips and talk only – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
BOOK LAUNCH AND SCREENING TOUR, EUROPE/PHILIPPINES July and August 2017
21/07/17 - VIC, SPAIN Festival Nits de cinema oriental de Vic [Filipino B Film Masterclass & clip show only – Andrew Leavold in attendance] Not only do I get to talk and launch the book...I’m also on this year’s Jury!
29/07/17 - COPENHAGEN, DENMARK Husets Biograf [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A - Andrew Leavold in attendance]
03/08/17 – LONDON, UK Brew Club [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A - Andrew Leavold in attendance] Hosted by Cigarette Burns Cinema, the venue made their own Weng-inspired beer for the evening called (what else?) For Y’ur Pint Only!
05/08/17 – GLASGOW, UK Glasgow Film Theatre [The Search for Weng Weng screening plus Q&A hosted by Graham Rae and co-hosted by Matchbox Cineclub - Andrew Leavold in attendance]
07/08/17- MANCHESTER, UK Home [talk, clip show and reading co-hosted by HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 himself, Laurence Harvey - Andrew Leavold in attendance]
08/08/17- BRISTOL, UK Bristol Improv Theatre [The Search for Weng Weng screening plus Q&A, hosted by the Bristol Bad Film Club’s Ti Singh – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
09/08/17 - CARDIFF, UK The Tramshed Cardiff [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/08/17 – LONDON, UK (afternoon) University of London’s SOAS [Filipino B Film Masterclass & clip show – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/08/17 - LONDON, UK (evening) The Horse Hospital, Bloomsbury [The Search for Weng Weng screening plus Q&A hosted by Mondo Macabro’s Pete Tombs – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
12/08/17 – AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS Vondelbunker [The Search For Weng Weng plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
15/08/17 - PARIS, FRANCE La Cantada [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
16/08/17 - PARIS, FRANCE Metaluna Bookstore [talk and book reading only – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
18/08/17 - BERLIN, GERMANY Z-Bar, Mitte (The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance)
19/08/17 – BERLIN, GERMANY Babylon Cinema [The Search For Weng Weng plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
23/08/17 – MANILA, PHILIPPINES Archivo 1984 Gallery, Malate [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance)
BOOK LAUNCH AND SCREENING TOUR, NORTH AMERICA/CAMBODIA October and November 2017
03/10/17 - SEATTLE, USA Grand Illusion Cinema [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
04/10/17 - VERNON, CANADA Record City [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
05/10/17 - VANCOUVER, CANADA 8th Dimension Comics [Reading and signing only, co-hosted by Cinema Sewer Magazine’s Robin Bougie – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
06/10/17 - TORONTO, CANADA Eyesore Cinema [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
07/10/17 - MONTREAL, CANADA Broue Pub Brouhaha Rosemont [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng and The Search For Weng Weng screenings plus Q&A, co-hosted by Douteaux's Tommy Gaudet – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
10/10/17 - BALTIMORE, USA The Windup Space [The Search For Weng Weng and The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screenings plus Q&A co-hosted by Mondo Baltimore's Shawn Jones – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
11/10/17 - PHILADELPHIA, USA PhilaMOCA [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
13/10/17 – NEW YORK CITY, USA (afternoon) School of Visual Arts, Manhattan [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus lecture on Filipino Comedy – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
13/10/17 – NEW YORK CITY, USA (evening) Forbidden Planet NYC, Manhattan [talk, reading and book signing only – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
15/10/17 - YONKERS, USA Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A, co-hosted by Horror Boobs – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
16/10/17 - DETROIT, USA Cinema Detroit [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A, co-hosted by The Projection Booth's Robert St. Mary – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
17/10/17 - CHICAGO, USA The Nightingale [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening, reading and signing, co-presented by The Chicago Cinema Society – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
18/10/17 - SAN FRANCISCO, USA Bayanihan Center [“The Secret History of Philippine Cinema” talk, reading and signing – Andrew Leavold in attendance] Part of Facine: 24th Annual Filipino International Cine Festival.
22/10/17 - HOLLYWOOD, USA Barkada Tapas Bar & Restaurant [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A with special guest, Weng Weng’s co-star from CALIBER .357, Nelson Anderson – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
25/10/17 - PHOENIX, USA FilmBar Phoenix, 815 N 2nd St, Phoenix, 7-10pm [The Lost Films Of Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
26/10/17 - MEXICO CITY, MEXICO Pulqueria Insurgentes [Book Launch and talk only – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
27/10/17 - MEXICO CITY, MEXICO Terminal Coyoacan [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
05/11/17 – KAMPOT, CAMBODIA Kampot Readers & Writers Festival, KAMA Cafe [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
07/11/17 – PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA Metahouse [The Search For Weng Weng screening plus Q&A – Andrew Leavold in attendance]
2023 - 10th Anniversary screenings in Metro Manila
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