Inspired by an experience close to home, the filmmaker co-writes and directs Netflix’s new family dramedy about estrangement, forgiveness, and learning when to finally let go.

<a href="https://www.lofficielph.com/culture/ganito-ganyan-ganoon-movie-cast-release-date-jodi-sta-maria-agot-isidro" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon</a> began with something filmmaker Cholo Laurel witnessed firsthand: a death in his family that reopened old wounds and, somewhere in the middle of it all, relationships began to heal. The experience stayed with him long enough to become the starting point for his latest film, now streaming on Netflix.
Starring Jodi Sta. Maria and Agot Isidro, Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon follows Joanne, a successful television writer whose estranged mother, Paz, suddenly returns home. Her arrival puts Joanne face-to-face with the childhood wounds she has spent years carrying, just as she is on the verge of a major opportunity of her own. The family dramedy that moves between resentment, humor, and the uneasy possibility of making peace with the past.
For Laurel, the film also brought him into the writing process alongside Cody Abad and Shania Sumergido. Together, the three turned his experience into the story of Joanne and Paz, keeping the messiness of family intact while looking for the grace Laurel says he saw within it.
Laurel speaks with L’OFFICIEL about turning a personal experience into fiction, what collaboration taught him as a writer, and why forgiveness may have less to do with repairing what was broken than deciding what you no longer want to carry.

You’ve said the film was inspired by someone close to you. When did you realize this story belonged on screen?
I felt I had a story to tell after being privy to a death in my family that caused past wounds to open. I merely wanted to write about the grace that I saw happening amid the fractured relationships and how the relationships were healed. I knew it was a story worth telling because it would help heal others. But I had no idea it would make it to a global platform like Netflix.&nbsp;
Family wounds shape many of the decisions these characters make. Did that theme guide the story from the beginning, or did it emerge as you wrote?&nbsp;
The decisions they made were the driving force of the story.
You collaborated with Cody Abad and Shania Sumergido on the screenplay. What did that process teach you?&nbsp;
That collaborative writing can work wonders! But one must set aside the ego and artistic ambition. One must be open.

You said the experience behind the film was healing for you. Did writing Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon change your understanding of forgiveness?&nbsp;
Oh yes, that forgiveness does not mean all is well again. It just means the forgiver has decided to rid himself with the baggage of trauma. And… that forgiveness does not require a sorry from the forgiven.&nbsp;
The film was shot in Marinduque, a place that holds personal significance for you. How did that setting shape the story you wanted to tell?&nbsp;
Oh, it made the story more meaningful.&nbsp;
After turning such a personal experience into a film, what do you hope audiences take away from it?
That grace is possible even in the most fractured of relationships. You must decide: will you keep carrying the load of the trauma? Or will you cut the curse of generational wounds? And go on with your life with a lighter sensibility about you.

‘Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon’ Director Cholo Laurel Talks Healing and Writing From Experience

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