MANILA, Philippines – Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield has called out the use of her image of Imelda Marcos in a billboard greeting the late dictator’s wife a happy birthday.
In a July 2 tweet, Lauren shared images of the billboard from the Philippine Star.
“Clearly, whoever stole my image to wish Imelda Happy Birthday doesn’t understand copyright infringement,” she said, tagging artist’s agency Institute Artist and its co-founder Matt Shonfeld. She also used the hashtags “stop the steal” and “the Kingmaker.”
It’s not immediately clear whether Lauren will be taking any legal action against the people behind the billboard.
The billboard in question, located along EDSA, shows Imelda in a red terno, with the text “Happy 93th [sic] birthday first lady Imelda Marcos.”
The image in the billboard was taken by Lauren for her documentary The Kingmaker, and was even used in the film’s poster.
The Kingmaker is a 2019 documentary focusing Imelda throughout her reign as first lady under the dictatorship of her husband Ferdinand Marcos.
The documentary also traces her efforts to restore their family name and gain back political power – a journey that has recently come to completion with her son Bonbong Marcos becoming the 17th President of the Philippines. – Rappler.com