Acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Gil M. Portes directs this harrowing account of the life and times of the openly gay Walter Dempster, Jr. AKA Markova. The film opens with Markova watching a documentary of elderly comfort women describing their horrors at being forced into prostitution by the Japanese army. From this starting point, Markova (Dolphy) relates he was abused as a child by his bullying older brother. When he died, Markovas taste of freedom was short-lived because he himself was forced into prostitution during the Japanese occupation. When American troops liberated the Philippines, Markovas situation only improved slightly under the ultra-conservative post-war regime. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide