Veterano

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Set in 1981, San Francisco, VETERANO follows Valentino (Jon Jon Briones), an aging Filipino World War II veteran beaten down by the system. Within the crumbling walls of his rundown apartment, he dusts off his pistol, grabs his old army jacket, and hits the streets of the city on an unspoken mission. When he enters a bank, the room turns. Time slows. And he must make a moral choice that could cost him everything.

VETERANO is a neo-noir crime thriller that combines the adrenaline-fueled intensity of a bank heist with the overlooked history of Filipino WWII veterans who were stripped of their promised American citizenship and benefits, a betrayal with consequences that still echo today.

Patrick Epino is an LA-based filmmaker from San Francisco. His feature crime thriller script VETERANO was selected for the 2025-2026 PGA Create Lab, advanced to the second round of the Sundance Development Lab, and was a finalist for the Gotham Week Project Market. Other credits include his feature MR. SADMAN, starring Scoot McNairy, and AWESOME ASIAN BAD GUYS, a cult action comedy starring Randall Park and Tamlyn Tomita, adapted from a video on his National Film Society YouTube channel.

Producers: Paola Mardo, Patrick Epino

Writer: Patrick Epino

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