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Philippine Showbiz Today
As Country-of-Focus at the
ongoing Singapore Media Festi-
val, the rich stories, talents, and
achievements of the Filipinos are
highlighted in several constituent
events.
The festival brings together
five key events namely Singa-
pore International Film Festival
(SGIFF), the newly-minted Asian
Academy Creative Awards (AAA),
the Asia TV Forum & Market
(ATF), Screen Singapore, and
SMF Ignite.
“Fresh off a new wave that
began in the 2000s, Philippine
cinema has since matured into a
thriving industry with rich stories
and diverse talents. To celebrate
one hundred years of Philippine
Cinema, we are proud to present
a selection of films and filmmak-
ers across our programmes,” read
a part in the festival guide.
Under the Silver Screen
Awards are “The Imminent Im-
manent (Baga’t Diri Tuhay Ta’t
Pamahungpahung)” by Carlo
Francisco Manatad; “Manila Is
Full Of Men Named Boy” by An-
drew Stephen Lee; “Judgement”
by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez; and
“Please Stop Talking (Wag Mo
’Kong Kausapin)” by Josef Gacu-
tan all part of the contest under
the Southeast Asian Short Film
Competition.
For the inaugural AAA, Fili-
pino celebrities are nominated,
particularly Maja Salvador for
Best Actress in a Leading Role:
“Wildflower” by ABS-CBN; Miguel
Tanfelix for Best Actor in a Lead-
ing Role: “Kambal Karibal” by
GMA Network; Kyline Alcantara
for Best Actress in a Supporting
Role: “Kambal Karibal” by GMA
Network; Gabby Eigenmann for
Tu b b a -
taha: A
National
Treasure
won the
best biodiversity preservation
tourism film 2018 at the 7th Za-
greb TourFilm Festival, the De-
partment of Foreign Affairs (DFA)
announced on Thursday.
Held in the northwestern Cro-
atian capital of Zagreb, the award
was received last Oct. 12 on be-
half of the production team by
Honorary Consul General to Cro-
atia Davor Stern.
The 5-minute short film pro-
duced by the Don Antonio O.
Floirendo, Sr. (AOF) Foundation
and Bullet Manila for the Tubba-
taha Management Office takes on
a sensorial approach to the Tub-
bataha diving experience.
December 8 - 21, 2018
Jan. 22-Feb.7, 2015
PHL movies in focus at Singapore Media
Festival, Pinoy actors nominated
SCENES FROM (clockwise top leftmost)’The Ashes And Ghosts Of Tayug 1931 (Dapol Tan Payawar Na
Tayug 1931),’ ‘Manila Is Full Of Men Named Boy,’ ‘Season Of The Devil (Ang Panahon Ng Halimaw),”The
Imminent Immanent (Baga’t Diri Tuhay Ta’t Pamahungpahung),’ ‘Eerie,’ and ‘Alpha, The Right To Kill’
Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
“Contessa” by GMA Network; and
Michael V. for Best Comedy Per-
formance: “Pepito Manaloto” by
GMA Network.
Mikhail Red’s “Eerie” also had
a screening as part of the Special
Presentation section last Dec. 3.
at the Capitol Theatre. Its World
Premiere was graced by lead stars
Bea Alonzo and Charo Santos-
Concio.
The movie is about girls of
St Lucia Convent who are dying
mysteriously — and their deaths
may be related to a student sui-
cide committed years before.
It’s Mikhail’s first foray into
the horror genre.
The films are “The Ashes And
Ghosts Of Tayug 1931 (Dapol Tan
Payawar Na Tayug 1931)” which
is Christopher Gozum’s layered
historical docudrama centered on
a forgotten Filipino revolutionary
who led a peasant revolt against
American colonialism. Then “Ner-
vous Translation” which is Shireen
Seno’s magical realist tale of the
fantastical world dreamed up by a
young girl left to her own devices
in her Manila home. And lastly
“Season Of The Devil (Ang Pana-
hon Ng Halimaw)” which is Lav
Diaz’s newest bleak and surreal
musical drama set in the brutal
era of martial law in the Philip-
pines.
Brillante Mendoza’s “Alpha,
The Right To Kill” is under the
Midnight Mayhem Feature. The
gritty social-realist thriller is about
a corrupt police officer and his
drug-pusher mole struggling
to survive amid the Philippines’
war on drugs. The film will have
its Southeast Asian Premiere on
Dec. 7.
The Southeast Asian Film Lab
which “provides an intimate and
collaborative setting for South-
east Asian filmmakers embarking
on their first feature-length film,”
sees Raya Martin as one of the
mentors.
Phyllis Grae Grande will
screen “Everybody Leaves” which
is about a Japanese-Filipina ex-
change student in Japan who
spends her last semester cleaning
the houses of people who died
lonely deaths, while also search-
ing for her estranged Japanese
father.
Jean Cheryl Tagyamon’s
“Judy Free” is about a father who
has been working abroad for eight
years. He intrudes upon his young
daughter when he comes home
to the Philippines as an animated
doodle figure.
In celebrating Asian storytell-
ing, this year’s SGIFF theme is
“Let the magic in.”
The venues for the festival are
at the Capitol Theatre (CAP), The
Cathay (CAT), Filmgarde Bugis+
(FG), National Gallery Singapore
(GA), National Museum of Sin-
gapore (NMS), Objectifs Centre
for Photography and Film (OBJ),
and SCAPE (SCA).
The SGIFF was established 1987
and it is the largest and longest-
running film event in Singapore.●
- Stephanie Marie Bernardino, MB
Filipino film on Tubbataha Reef
wins in Croatia
It showcased the UNESCO-
inscribed World Heritage Site that
boasts of magnificent diversity
of marine life to prove “that the
world underneath is so different
from the one above it, yet is fa-
miliar.”
Directed by Placido Falsario
II, it advocates the need to con-
tinuously protect the Tubbataha
Reef Natural Park.
Zagreb TourFilm Festival,
member of Comité International
des Festivals du Film Touristique
(CIFFT), rewards films and audio-
visual productions that promote
tourism.
The international tourism film
festival featured over a hundred
short films from all over the world
from Oct. 10- 12.●
- K. Aguilar /CBB, Inq.