Irish actor Patrick Bergin and Filipino heartthrob Dingdong Dantes are the stars behind the riveting film directed by Cesar Apolinario and Marnie Manicad “Dance of the Steel Bars”. A story inspired by actual events in a Filipino prison, the struggles that inmates experience and their quest to feel human again.
The action drama was shot in the Cebu provincial prison, the same place where the inmates dressed in orange uniforms danced to global fame. Their choreographed act still attracts thousands of tourists who troop to the prison to watch the performance.
The Dubai-based producer, Portfolio Films International, said the story follows Bergin’s character, Frank Parish, a retired U.S. firefighter and philanthropist wrongly jailed for murder in the Philippines.
Frank becomes friends with Mando played by Dingdong Dante, a convicted murderer who denies his passion for dancing just to prove his masculinity and Allona played by Joey Paras, a transsexual who tries to contribute to prison reforms by teaching his fellow inmates dance exercises. They are caught up in a struggle between the positive changes being implemented by the new jail warden and a corrupt prison system.
Marnie Manicad, who co-directed the movie with television reporter Cesar Apolinario share that the story is fictional but inspired by real stories of the inmates. They made the film to tell the story of redemption, and of the human spirit’s ability to change for the better.
Manicad, her husband and television reporter Jiggy Manicad, and Apolinario co-wrote the story. The screenplay is by Cris Lim.
Dance of the Steel Bars is set for local release on June 12.
