Closing Night Film: GomBurZa

GomBurZa is a historical film that will move and inspire today’s Filipinos. It tells the story of three martyr priests — Mariano Gomes (Dante Rivero), Jose Burgos (Cedrick Juan), and Jacinto Zamora (Enchong Dee) — who were executed by garrote in 1872 falsely accused of sedition and treason.
The film chronicles the struggle that began with the secularization movement led by Padre Pedro Pelaez (Piolo Pascual). From this movement, the advocacy for Filipinization of the Church was continued and championed by priests. They inspired the educated middle class, liberal intellectuals and students, including Jose Rizal’s brother, Paciano Mercado (Elijah Canlas). The martyrdom of GomBurZa never silenced the enlightened. Their deaths influenced others to continue the struggle, eventually inspiring our national hero, Jose Rizal, who dedicated his novel “El Filibusterismo” to the three priests.
A heroic drama laden with intrigue, battle scenes and love of country, GomBurZa is an epic tribute to the people behind the birth of our Filipino consciousness.

Jose Lorenzo “Pepe” Diokno is an internationally-awarded film director, producer, and screenwriter.

His creative journey began in high school at La Salle Green Hills, where he made short films and acted in stageplays. He then took up film at the University of the Philippines – College of Mass Communication.

At the age of 22, Pepe made his first feature film, Engkwentro (2009). It had its world premiere at the Cinemalaya Independent Festival, and its international premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Lion of the Future – Luigi de Laurentiis Award and the Orizzonti Prize. Pepe followed this up with two more independent films, Above the Clouds (2013), which premiered at the Tokyo Film Festival and was nominated Best Film at the Singapore Film Festival; and Kapatiran (2014), which was selected to the Karlovy Vary Film Festival.

In 2016, Pepe joined advertising production company UxS. He has since collaborated with clients such as Jollibee, P&G, Unilever, Nestlé, BPI, and the Department of Tourism, among others, in creating brand films that have set viral video records and have won international awards, such as the Asian Academy Creative Awards, the Effie Awards, and the New York Festivals International Advertising Awards. Notable examples include the Kwentong Jollibee Valentine’s series, Safeguard’s Pabaon sa Buhay, and Maggi’s Kusinaserye, and the Samsung documentary “Siargao Day and Night”.

In 2023, Pepe returned to filmmaking with the historical drama, GomBurZa, which was both a critical and commercial success. The film received seven awards at the Metro Manila Film Festival, including Best Director. It was also a box office hit, spending over five weeks in cinemas, and debuting at #1 on Netflix.

The same year, Pepe was selected for the Torino Script Lab in Italy, where he began developing a horror film. He is currently developing several films and series under his newly founded company, Kapitol Films