STATUS: REJECTED

STATUS: REJECTED

by Vahn Leinard C. Pascual

90:00 minutes | Drama, Family, Comedy | R-13 | Strong Language, Nudity, Sex, GAD

CAST

Ruby Ruiz, Alessandra de Rossi, Beverly Salviejo, Yani Villarosa

PRODUCTION

DIRECTOR – Vahn Leinard C. Pascual

SCREENPLAY – Vahn Leinard C. Pascual, Jaymar Castro, Ivan Villacorta Gentolizo

EDITOR – Che Tagyamon

CINEMATOGRAPHER – Martika Ramirez Escobar

PRODUCTION DESIGNER – Marielle Hizon

ORIGINAL MUSICAL SCORE – Hans Piozon

SOUND DESIGNER – Nikolai Lantano

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Paul Soriano, Mark Victor, Omar Sortijas

PRODUCERS – Omar Sortijas, Micah Tadena, Fea Fortuna

LOGLINE

A grandmother longing for love and the promise of a better life is swept into an online romance that challenges her sense of worth, family, and the dreams she refuses to let go of.

SYNOPSIS

Virginia “Biring” Divinagracia, a 69-year-old widow, has spent her life caring for her daughter and granddaughter in a home that no longer feels like hers. After her fourth U.S. visa rejection, her dream of reuniting with her son feels impossible. An old friend opens the door to the digital world where Biring rediscovers connection and visibility. There, she meets Steve, a charming American stranger, who makes her feel wanted for the first time in decades. As her heart opens, so does her hope that this might finally be her ticket to love and to the America she’s always dreamed of. But as her world begins to revolve around a screen, the line between dream and delusion blurs, testing how far she’ll go for love and belonging.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE

VAHN LEINARD C. PASCUAL

Vahn Leinard C. Pascual is a queer Filipino filmmaker making his debut feature. His unique style, influenced by a background in production design, explores political and queer themes.

Pascual has garnered accolades across major film festivals. His film Sina Alexa, Xander at ang Universe (2020) received critical acclaim at the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) and the Toronto Queer Film Festival. Alingasngas ng mga Kuliglig (2021) won Best Picture at the International Silent Film Festival Manila. It was also screened at QCinema and later acquired by the Criterion Channel. In 2022, CNN Philippines Life named him one of the “eight emerging Filipino directors to watch out for”.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) awarded him the Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) for Cinema. He was the youngest recipient of the first-ever CREATE Award in the Audiovisual category conferred by the House of Representatives of the Philippines. Pascual served as Film Ambassador at the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) Ambassador’s Night. He also represented the Philippines at the JF & TIFF Lounge: Asian Film Students Exchange Program, the student artist residency program of the Tokyo International Film Festival, which is supported by the Japan Foundation. He was also selected for the Niigata International Animation Film Festival Camp in Japan.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Status: Rejected is a love letter to my grandmother and to many Filipino grandmothers whose lives are shaped by quiet longing. They long for their children who left home in search of a better life, for conversations that once filled their days, and for dreams they were forced to set aside. As the years pass, their world slowly becomes smaller – not because they are unloved, but because life moves quickly and they are left behind.

For me, rejection is not always loud or obvious; it lives in the conversations that no longer happen, in the dreams we quietly give up, in the feeling of no longer being truly seen. I have often wondered how many of our grandmothers carry this kind of rejection in silence from the world, from the people they love, or from the expectations they have placed on themselves. This film began with a question that has stayed with me for years: do our grandmothers still have space to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved for who they are beyond the roles they once carried?

Through Biring, I wanted to give form to the emotional lives they continue to hold in silence. Beneath her humor, stubbornness, and hope is a woman searching for dignity, belonging, and connection. My grandmother taught me that the deepest pain is not rejection or failure but the quiet ache of becoming invisible. This film is for her.