Directors Showcase: Cinemalaya features digital masterpieces

The 2014 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition, now on its 10th year and billed as Cinemalaya X, premieres a crop of 25 new digital films on August 1 to 10 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, its main venue, and at satellite venues at Ayala Theaters in Greenbelt Makati, Alabang Town Center, TriNoma, and Fairview Terraces, the latest addition to Cinemalaya satellite venues.

New Breed: Cinemalaya X features 10 full length digital features

The 2014 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition, now on its 10th year and billed as Cinemalaya X, premieres a crop of 25 new digital films on August 1 to 10 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, its main venue, and at satellite venues at Ayala Theaters in Greenbelt Makati, Alabang Town Center, TriNoma, and Fairview Terraces, the latest addition to Cinemalaya satellite venues.

Philippines’ entry to the Foreign Language Film category of 84th Academy Awards

The award-winning independent film Ang Babae sa Septic Tank has been chosen by the Film Academy of the Philippines as the country’s entry to the Foreign Language Film category of 84th Academy Awards.

Cinemalaya 2011: Eugene Domingo no longer a second best

by Nickie Wang

A comedy about misguided ambitions, the art of making art and the romantisizing of poverty, that is what Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank ia all about and these are the same reasons why the jurors at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival chose the comedy feature as this year’s best full-length film, a misnomner, since it’s only a video.

Ang Babae sa Septic Tank was also the big winner in the annual indie film event that took place at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater on July 24. And the brightest star of the night was Eugene Domingo who won her first Best Actress award for the title role in the comedy feature.

CINEMALAYA 2011: A fact hidden behind Laurice Guillen’s Maskara

Seasoned actor Roberto (Tirso Cruz III) and acting instructor Ellen (Sharmaine Buencamino) were married for a long time. They had a teenage daughter. But how come the wife did not learn of anything about the husband’s past, that he had a child prior to their marriage? That’s fiction, of course.

The dying industry’s elusive dream

by Nickie Wang

Filipino audiences have become much more discerning today than they were in the previous decades. No wonder, our local multiplexes are teeming with foreign films, mostly from Hollywood, because they are the only moving pictures that can, so far, match what audiences look for in a film.

Movies you loved but snubbed

by Nickie Wang

A swarm of local films hit all movie theaters last month due to the annual Metro Manila Film Festival. That gave us an additional eight mainstream movies and five additional independent films to the 74 full-length features previously released in 2010. Twelve of these 87 movie titles now are from Star Cinema and 58 of them are independently-produced.

WITHOUT WANG²: Young Filipinos’ film festival

by Nickie Wang

Meryll Soriano and Lovi Poe went home bagged the Balanghai Best Actress trophy in last week’s closing ceremonies of the digital-driven Cinemalaya film festival. So, those who did not care to watch the conclusion of Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and Competition held at the CCP Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo would ask: were they a tie?

Nine days of indie movies

by Nickie Wang

THE Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is set to explode in various venues of the Cultural Center of The Philippines as the sixth edition of the annual festival opens its doors from July 9 to 18 featuring a total of 24 independent films in competition.

IN FOCUS: Limbunan,Vox Populi, and Si Techie, si Teknoboy at si Juana B

LIMBUNAN
By Gutierrez Mangansakan II
The New Breed Category: Finalist, Full Length Feature

SYNOPSIS

Limbunan glimpses into the life of a bride-to-be as she is kept from public view prior to the wedding in her private quarters – limbunan.

The film captures the ritual motions of the women in a family preparing for the wedding of seventeen-year-old Ayesah who is betrothed to a man she barely knows. As preparations for her union is underway, Ayesah is reunited with her childhood tutor Maguid who returns to the village as a militiaman after five years, reawakening Ayesah’s past memory of childhood infatuation. Throughout Ayesah’s confinement her precocious and rebellious eight-year-old sister Saripa becomes her eyes to the world beyond her room. Her mother Amina keeps her composure despite the fact her husband sleeps with his second wife half of the time, finding solace in the belief that it is both her religious and familial duty to be an obedient wife. Ayesah’s aunt Farida is tasked to ensure that she is prepared for the wedding. However, Farida’s dark past challenges Ayesah’s resolve finding herself choosing between love and loyalty to tradition and family.

IN FOCUS: Rekrut, Magkakapatid, and Halaw

REKRUT
By Danny AÑonuevo
The New Breed Category: Finalist, Full Length Feature

SYNOPSIS

What is the measure of true friendship? Jamir, a devout Muslim, and Lando, a Christian, are among an elite group of young recruits formed by military officers for a classified operation. These impressionable young men would undergo intense and grueling training that put their will and strength of character to the test. Amidst all the hardships, these men set aside their differences and became brothers. But what happens when the institution they have sworn to protect becomes the wedge that will tear their brotherhood apart?