This year’s entries to the first ever Horror plus Film Festival stretch the limits of horror, just in time for Halloween weekend. The Sineng Pambansa HORROR plus Film Festival will run from October 29 – November 4 at SM Cinema branches nationwide.
PEQUE GALLAGA & LORE REYES : T’yanak is the story of Julie’s (Judy Ann Santos) adopted baby who transforms into a monster and terrorizes their quiet town of Putting Bato with a series of brutal murders, including the wife of townsman (Sid Lucero) who gets wrongly imprisoned for T’yanak’s crime. Among T’yanak’s targets are Julie’s brother (Tom Rodriquez) and his fiancee (Solenn Heussaff). Julie, who has suffered miscarriage after miscarriage in her efforts to have her own child, is unwilling to turn over her adopted baby to the authorities despite the many murders it has committed. Magpatuloy sa pagbasa →
Fully Booked, Caritas Manila and Let-Us-Tell –Your Story present Rescue Cinema, a festival aimed at supporting relief operations for the victims of typhoon “Yolanda” . The festival will be held from November 22-24, 2013 at the U-View Cinema, Basement Level, Fully Booked, Fort Bonifacio.
The festival’s lineup includes Alvin Yapan’s “Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa”, Paul Soriano’s “Thelma”, Sheron Dayoc’s “Halaw”, Hannah Espia’s “Transit”, Joaquin Pedro Valdes’ “Dagim”, Marie Jamora’s “Ang Nawawala”, Jade Castro’s “Zombadings 1:Patayin sa Shokot si Remington”, Lav Diaz’ “Prologue to the Great Desaparecido”, Vincent Sandoval’s “Aparisyon”, Pepe Diokno’s “Engkwentro”, Whammy Alcazaren’s “Colossal” and Monster Jimenez’ “Kano”.
Admission is free to the public.
Caritas Manila will be present to receive cash donations of any amount for their relief efforts.
Congratulations CHARLIEBEBS GOHETIA, [center; flanked by Talent Manager Shandii Bacolod & Xixi Maturan] Best Editing Award for “Ang Alamat Ni China Doll”
CONGRATULATIONS!
Cinema One Plus: Best Picture – “Alamat ni China Doll”
Best Director –Borgy Torre (“Kabisera”)
Best Actor ¬– Joel Torre (“Kabisera”)
Best Actress – Angelica Panganiban (“Alamat ni China Doll”)
Best Supporting Actor – Peque Gallaga (“Woman of the Ruins”)
Best Supporting Actress – Bing Pimentel (“Kabisera”)
Best Screenplay – Mes de Guzman (“Sitio”) Best Sound – Mark Locsin, Dante Cuanico, Mike Idioma and Alex Tomboc (“Alamat ni China Doll”)
Best Music – Lav Diaz (“Alamat ni China Doll”)
Best Editing – Charliebebs Gohetia (“Alamat ni China Doll”)
Best Production Design – Marielle Hizon (“Blue Bustamante”) Best Cinematography – Albert Banzon (“Alamat ni China Doll”)
Jury Prize – “Sitio”
Audience Choice – “Woman of the Ruins”
Cinema One Currents: Best Film – “Bukas na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na”
Best Director – Arnel Mardoquio (“Riddles of my Homecoming”)
Best Actor – Rayver Cruz, Matteo Guidicelli and Joseph Marco (“Saturday Night Chills”)
Best Actress – Vivian Velez (“Bendor”)
Best Supporting Actor – David Chua (“Saturday Night Chills”)
Best Supporting Actress – Anna Luna (“Bendor”)
Best Screenplay – Jet Leyco and Norman Wilwayco (“Bukas na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na”)
Best Sound – Mikko Quizon (“Islands”)
Best Music – Gauss Obenza (“Riddles of my Homecoming”)
Best Editing – Dempster Samarista (“Saturday Night Chills”)
Best Production Design – Perry Dizon (“Riddles of my Homecoming”)
Best Cinematography – Arbi Balbuena and McRobert Nacario (“Riddles of my Homecoming”)
Jury Prize – “Riddles of my Homecoming”
Special Awards:
Best Biogesic Short Film – “Magic Touch” (UE Caloocan and Ruel S. Bayani)
This year’s CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FILM FESTIVAL finally happens starting November 11 and wraps up on the 19th. Cinema One’s prime man Ronald Arguelles has this to say : “Our films this year are really different, for those craving new things. Our tagline is ‘Wag kang pahuhuli’ because it’s all about being different, young, new, edgy… not for the ordinary.” Do take some time to dive into these flicks at TRINOMA, GLORIETTA and Robinson’s GALLERIA.
Cinema One Plus :
“Kabisera” by Borgy Torre
“Blue Bustamante” by Miko Livelo
“Sitio” by Mes de Guzman
“Alamat ni China Doll” by Adolf Alix Jr.
“Woman of the Ruins” by Keith Sicat
Cinema One Currents :
“Angustia” by Kristian Cordero
“Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas” by Timmy Harn
“Islands” by Whammy Alcarazen
“Bukas Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na” by Jet Leyco
“Iskalawags” by Keith Deligero
“Suffocating Eternity of an Imagined Purgatory” by Joseph Laban
“Philippino Story” by Benjamin Garcia
“Shift” by Siege Ledesma
“Bendor” by Ralston Jover
“Riddles of my Homecoming” by Arnel Mardoquio
FACINE XX/BENTE (The 20th Annual Filipino American Cine Festival) CALL FOR ENTRIES, DEADLINE EXTENDED TO OCTOBER 31, 2013. Open to all filmmakers of Filipino parentage; entries no longer than 120 min (short or full length), of any genre, subject or style, no limit to number of entries submitted. No registration fee. Non-Filipino media artists can submit entries as long as subject is Filipino. All entries need to be with English subtitles, if in language other than English. Please submit/mail all entries in DVD format to: MAURO TUMBOCON, 537 Jones Street, PMB 2643, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA. (The festival, co-presented by FACINE and Bindlestiff Studio, runs December 9-14, 2013 at the Bindlestiff Theater, San Francisco, CA.)
QCinema, Quezon City‘s annual Film Festival, is aimed at addressing the development and promotion of filmmaking among city residents. The three selected films, after a rigorous screening process, were awarded production grants of P800,000 each by the Quezon City Film Development Commission (QCFDC). Part of the grant’s requirements is that one of its three major proponents (director, producer or screenwriter) must be a bonafide Quezon City resident.
QCinema will be held from October 3 to 5, 2013 at the Ayala Trinoma Mall. The three winning projects which will be holding their world premieres are “Gaydar” by Alvin Yapan, “Hello World” by Joel Ferrer and “Lukas Nino” by John Torres (awarded P500,000 postproduction grant).
Included in the QCinema event will be the screening of nine 2013 Cinemalaya New Breed films which were awarded by QCFDC with postproduction grants of P100,000 each. Slated during the festival will be film workshops and talkback sessions with filmmakers as well as the awarding of special recognition to the three winners and grantees.
BONG CABRERA , Best Supporting Actor for THE GUERRILLA IS A POET
Here the winners to this year’s CineFilipinoFilmFestival : Best Picture: Ang Kwento ni Mabuti and Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita
Best Director: Mes De Guzman for Ang Kwento ni Mabuti
Best Screenplay: Mes De Guzman for Ang Kwento ni Mabuti
Best Actress: Teri Malvar in Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita
Best Actor: Karl Medina in The Guerrilla is a Poet
Best Acting Ensemble: The cast of Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita
Best Supporting Actress: Angel Aquinoin Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita
Best Supporting Actor: Bong Cabrera in The Guerrilla is a Poet Best Film Editing: The Guerrilla is a Poet Best Cinematography: Puti
Best Musical Score: The Guerrilla is a Poet
Best Production Design: Puti Best Sound: Puti
SHORT FILM AWARDS
Best Short Film: Ligaw by Pamela L. Reyes
2nd Best Short Film: Logaritmo by Kim Ocariza
3rd Best Short Film: Sangandaan by Jose Ibarra Guballa and Bienvenido Ferrer III
Bong Cabrera , sandwiched by Xixi Maturan & John Relucio at Talent Manager Shandii Bacolod’s birthday bash last year…
WILFREDO O. PASCUAL, JR. WRITES : Ang Kuwento ni Mabuti’s trailer opens with geography, a mountain range shrouded in mist, those spiritual peaks that lock the rarely seen heart of Luzon. Nueva Vizcaya is a landscape somewhat different from the southern Bicol origins of its lead actress Nora Aunor who was born in volcanic Iriga surrounded by lakes. What does Aunor make of filmmaker Mes de Guzman’s part of the world?
Playing the role of a poor, good-natured Ilocano folk healer, one of Aunor’s tasks is simple and telling. Her portly figure treads through dry shrubs and cuts through tangles of vine. She stops where the water trickles, blows one end of a long rubber tube and places it under a shallow stream. In a province threatened by the unrelenting onslaught of armed conflict, illegal logging, mining and dam projects, will water run upstream and reach home?
These mountains contain and define Mabuti’s world and we are almost certain that she will breath her last here, even as her children opt to do business in town or leave for Dubai in desperation. When she leaves the trail and makes a trip to town, her world is jolted. The killing of a rebel in a military checkpoint thrusts a bag of cash into her hands. What would she do with all that money? Who should have it? We can all diverge on what we would do if fate finds us in a similar situation, but what haunts Mabuti? And how is she haunted? The last questions are important because it unveils the seat of a hinterland’s conscience, etched in Aunor’s performance, an artist’s marvelous and earnest response to the abode of the spirits, the dry wind and the dark clouds. Beyond the question of what is right and what is wrong is a hidden worldview that is less understood and yet speaks to our modern times.
Ilocano folk healers are specialists. There are those who specialize in gynecological folk treatment, sprains and dislocations, and then there are the privileged few with supernatural powers who cure snake and dog bites. Called “mannuma,” they channel the spirits through a stone, accurately depicted in the film, which tells how far the venom has traveled in the bloodstream. Mabuti’s sanctuary after all is not completely verdant; the hills are mostly denuded and the people not all that free from toxicity. For one, we are suspicious of the village captain and all that maddening coin-counting in his office. Civilians are caught between an armed conflict. There is indolence. And dogbites. And then there is death. And more dogbites. Mabuti, like all mannumas, can never charge payment and can only accept tokens and gifts. And so what to do with this bag of cash? In a nation rocked by war and corruption, what money does to Mabuti and what she does with it can provide a critical if not interesting parable to our times.
De Guzman’s tale, like Diablo and Of Skies and Earth, is once again grounded in masterful folk telling and local knowledge. It is charged with mystery and yet carefully paced. What I love about Mes de Guzman’s body of work, all set in Nueva Vizcaya, is how, in exploring moral questions, he combines the timeless to the temporal, the sacred to the secular, the heavenly to the mundane (Mabuti’s grand-daughter is named Kate Winslett). It is a perfect material for world-class actress Nora Aunor whose flowing career has taken the qualities of a river. From the sand dunes of Ilocos to the water-borne Badjaos of Tawi-Tawi, she is the complete vessel that transports us through our diverse landscapes and languages, the unseen realms of marginalized voices. In Mabuti, the actress does not hide the real scars on her throat that has silenced her singing voice. It’s with this shared silence that she gathers us all to experience a quiet understanding of ourselves. You touch the river of her body of work and you touch the mystery of distance and source. From waters to spiritual peaks, what more can you ask from a people’s artist?
NOTES on the author :Wilfredo O. Pascual, Jr. received the Centennial Literary Prize during the centennial celebration of the Philippine Free Press. His story was about Filipinos leaving the country. Pascual said, “ I thought it was ironic considering that all three winners, including the other two who placed second and third, were all critical of the present administration but I thought it all made sense because we were, after all, honoring the 100th year of the Philippine Free Press.” President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo graced the awarding ceremony. Pascual is the grand prize winner of two Carlos Palanca Awards for Essay (English) for his works Devotion (2004) and Lost in Childrensville (2007). He graduated from the University Science High School in 1984, where he won in the National Schools Press Conference. He published his novel “Sanlibong Alitaptap” at 24, while on and off schooling in UST, Faculty of Arts and Letters. He also has poems dedicated to his father, a CLSU alumnus in Agriculture and a varsity basketball player.
September 21
SATURDAY
11:10AM Edsa Shang-rila Cineplex
1:50PM Lucky Chinatown
September 22
SUNDAY
12:30PM Gateway Cinemas
1:00PM Resorts World Manila (GALA)
September 23
MONDAY
6:15PM Resorts World Manila
3:00PM Gateway Cinemas
September 24
TUESDAY
7:00PM Gateway Cinemas
Cast/Production
Akihiro Blanco, Mocha Uson, Mon Confiado, Lance Raymundo II, Issa Litton, Ria Garcia, Pio Balbuena
a Black Swan Pictures and a Bautista/Praico/Confiado production
Director: Ato Bautista
Screenplay: Shugo Praico
Cinematographer: Rain Yamson II
Editor: Benjamin Tolentino Production Designer: Marxie Maolen Fadul
Musical Score: Denise Santos
Theme Music: Holland Lou Buela Costume Designer: Andrea Tatad Assistant Director: Apreal Vicencio Art Director: Rafaella Las
Abstract:
MGA ALAALA NG TAG-ULAN (Memories of Rain) is a poignant, coming-of-age story about a young man’s first encounter with love, romance and heartbreak. It is told in bits and pieces of poetic and melancholic memories, pouring in one rainy night.
SANTI is a college freshman. His well-to-do family is coping with financial crises. They recently moved in into a small apartment, in a small suburban town. As Santi deals with teen-aged woes, adjustments with his new environment at home and in school, and as he finds escape from his parents’ marital conflicts, Santi encounters love-at-first-sight…
MARIE CLAIRE is more than ten years older than Santi. She works as an assistant in a Cafe bookshop. Lost, broken and fragile after a tragic break-up, Marie Claire left the province in search of a new beginning to find her place in this world…
One rainy afternoon, Santi and Marie Claire cross path. She seeks shelter from the heavy rain. He covers and protects her under his big red umbrella. Marie Claire is the most beautiful thing Santi has ever laid eyes on. Santi is the kindest and purest person Marie Claire has ever met.
Strangers finding solace in one another, the young man and older woman begin an amazing friendship. But as Santi gets closer to Marie Claire, the more she becomes a mystery to him. And the more he gets mystified, the more he falls in love with her.
In his pursuit of Marie Claire, Santi goes through a journey of finding the meaning of love, understanding its complexities, fighting for it, facing its challenges and accepting the pains and sufferings that it entails, transforming him, earning for him his passage to adulthood.
Tomorrow , September 11 ; SM CINEMAS will exclusively exhibit Filipino films entered in the Sineng Pambansa All Masters Series Film Festival project of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. This spectacular event is highlighted even more with ace veteran director MARYO J DELOS REYES’ ‘BAMBOO FLOWERS’ , a film that talks about the youth’s problems, hopes and aspirations; about love and life; about sacrifice, forgiveness and acceptance; about life and death. Written by Aloy Adlawan, it stars MYLENE DIZON, MAX COLLINS, YOGO SINGH, ORLANDO SOL and RURU MADRID and supported by IRMA ADLAWAN, SPANKY MANIKAN, DIVA MONTELABA, PAUL HOLME, MIGGS CUADERNO, BARBARA MIGUEL, GINO ANTONIO and LEANDRO BALDEMOR. A co-production of the FILM DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL OF THE PHILIPPINES and PRODUCTIONS 56
![Congratulations CHARLIEBEBS GOHETIA, [center; flanked by Talent Manager Shandii Bacolod & Xixi Maturan] Best Editing Award for "Ang Alamat Ni China Doll"](https://aliwanavenue.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/bebs.jpg)
Aliwan Avenue 