The producer of 1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom shared in an exclusive interview with PUSH that they are open to criticisms about their film which is set to be released in cinemas nationwide this June 5. This comes after the trailer of the film was met with various reactions from netizens as they aired their concerns for its historical accuracy.

1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom tells the story of the pre-Spanish era Philippines where a young princess (played by Bea Alonzo) falls in love with a Spanish soldier. The two find romance amidst the battle of Lapu-Lapu and Ferdinand Magellan in Mactan, Cebu.

Speaking with PUSH, Francis Ho, the film’s producer, shared how they “welcome” the criticism thrown at their film.

“Welcomed and appreciated their constructive criticisms while at the same time reminded them this is a historical drama and not a historical documentary. [We] clarified that the battle of Mactan is historical but the love story is fictional,” he shared.

The producer added that despite having limited budget, the crew became resourceful and overcame all the odds thrown at them as they accomplished an “extraordinarily huge vision.”

Francis maintained that they based the historical facts on the primary sources written by Venetian scholar and explorer Antonio Pigafetta. The story of the film was balanced as well with several resources coming from Filipino scholars.

“The story, the storytelling ideas and the vision came from me and then I hired an award winning screenwriter to write the screenplay. [We] based our facts on the historical events from primary sources (Pigafetta’s chronicle) and balanced it with resources by Filipino scholars,” he added. 

The 1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom producer hoped that Filipinos will take a chance to watch their film as it is a “testament” of the dream they pursued.

“The success of 1521 will benefit all Filipinos so let’s go out to theaters starting June 5 to ensure the success of 1521 that will benefit us all,” he continued.

1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom will be distributed by Viva Films in collaboration with Inspire Studios. The film made its mark across 650 theaters in the United States in October last year.

The film has done well internationally as it has already garnered four international awards–– the Best Feature Film award at the Athens IMA Film Festival, Best Feature Film and Best Cinematography Feature Film at the Swedish Film Awards, and Best Feature Film at the London Independent Film Awards.