A FILM directed by an alumnus of the University of San Carlos in Cebu will be among eight chosen to be featured in the midnight section of the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Kenneth Dagatan’s “In My Mother’s Skin” was the only Filipino movie that will premiere at the largest independent film festival in the United States starting January 19, 2023.

It is also the only non-English language entry in the midnight section.

The festival received a record 15,855 submissions.

“The movie tells the story of a young girl who tries to protect her mother while being stranded in the war-stricken Philippines and threatened by a sinister flesh-eating fairy,” USC said.

“It is starred by Filipino actors Beauty Gonzales, Felicity Kyle Napuli, James Mavie Estrella, Angeli Bayani, Arnold Reyes, Ronnie Lazaro, Noel Sto Domingo, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith,” it added.

“In My Mother’s Skin” is also the first co-production between the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan.

It was produced by Epicmedia Productions (Philippines), Zhao Wei Films and Clover Films (Singapore) and Volos Films (Taiwan).

Dagatan is a graduate of Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Cinema at the USC Talamban Campus.

He made headlines when his first horror movie titled “Ma” was screened at the New York Asian Film Festival in 2019.