Imelda had its world premiere at the
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam and its North American premiere in the documentary competition of the 2004
Sundance Film Festival, where it won the
Excellence in Cinematography Award Documentary. The film was also screened at the
Maryland Film Festival in
Baltimore. American actor and producer
Kyra Sedgwick and her production company, Big Swing Productions, produced the film along with American writer, publisher and producer Meredith Bagby and Valerie Stadler. Critical reviews were mostly favorable. The film has a 94% fresh rating from
Rotten Tomatoes and a 69/100 from
Metacritic. The website
Film Threat commended the film's treatment of the subject's flaws because it "allows her to describe them herself";
TV Guide called Imelda "an entertaining storyteller".
The New York Times said the film is "a devastating portrait" and equates the theme of
Imelda with that of delusion and power. The
San Francisco Chronicle said it was "spellbinding".
Variety said that Imeldawho has been accustomed to public attention since her teenage years, was convinced that her charm and charisma would create a more favorable impression in the film than might otherwise be expected. It said that "her defenses of her husband and his regime are obviously filled with rationalizations and obfuscations". Outside the US, the film received box office revenue of . In the United States, the film was shown on
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as part of its documentary television series
Independent Lens on May 10, 2005.
Philippine release The film was scheduled to be screened in the 2004
Cinemanila film festival and on Philippine theaters in July 7, 2004, five days after Imelda Marcos's 75th birthday. On June 16, Marcos filed suit against the distributor of the film to block its distribution. Marcos contends that she was never informed that the interviews would be used in a documentary and never gave permission for the footage to be used in a commercial film. In a statement, she says: The restraining order lapsed the following day, and it was able to be shown in the film festival which was extended from July 12 to July 20 to accommodate other films that were not shown during its original schedule, besides
Imelda. The film was premiered on television through
TV5 on February 24, 2009 and later re-aired on
GMA News TV on October 5, 2014. On February 1, 2022, the film's director Ramona Diaz made the film available for streaming online on
YouTube. ==See also==