A perfectly satisfying genre hybrid – romantic-comedy, action, and buddy – movie. You’ll enjoy watching this with a “significant other”: either girlfriend/boyfriend or bestfriend/buddy. The “moment-of-truth” decision made by the woman protagonist is, as it should be, strong and empowering. Ultimately, This Means War (2012) is a movie about friendship, and this makes it universally appealing. 3.5 (out of 5) stars.
FACINE18 CELEBRATES FILIPINO CINEMA IN A SHOWCASE OF NEW WORKS ON DECEMBER 17 IN SAN FRANCISCO
The longest-running festival of films by and/or about the Filipino premieres
two explosive films about love and desire from the Philippines
The 18th annual filipino american cine festival reels off with the US premiere of three full-length films and the screening of short films on Saturday, December 17, 2011 (11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) at the San Francisco Main Library, Koret Auditorium. (100 Larkin Street @ Grove Street, Civic Center, San Francisco)
All screenings are free to the public. (Please see schedule below.)
The yearly festival, which is the longest-running event in the US, is organized by FACINE or filipino arts & cinema, international, a not-for-profit media arts organization based in San Francisco, FACINE aims to promote and develop Filipino American as well as Philippine national cinema.
The festival opens with Boy Villasanta’s Ang Manggagamot/Faith healer, an omnibus film of three stories that serve to comment on the culture of faith healing in the Philippines.
Lito Casaje’s Dolores, on the other hand, dares to tell the story of a young girl, seemingly innocent yet confused with the blurring of the line between love and lust.
Archie del Mundo’s Taksikab, a film of immense power, traverses the intimate lives of ordinary people as they go through their own daily struggles for survival.
A wide array of new short works by filmmakers from the Philippines and the United States on varying subjects, which include Adrian Ellis Alarilla, Joni Gutierrez and Tonilyn A. Sideco, will be presented in different programs.
The festival is co-presented with the Filipino American Center of the San Francisco Main Library. For information, please contact, Mauro Tumbocon, Director, FACINE at (415) 756-7331 or email: mftworks@hotmail.com
Find below the full schedule of the festival.
Program 1 11:00 am – 12: 30 noon
DRIFTERS (15 min, USA/Philippines, 2011)
Directed and written by Adrian Ellis Alarilla
A second-generation Filipina American daughter thinks of moving out of her immigrant mother’s place; then, attitudes and cultures clash.
ANG MANGGAGAMOT/Faith healer (45:30 min, Philippines, 2011)
Produced, directed and written by Boy Villasanta
An omnibus film, a metanarrative on the culture of faith healing in the Philippines.
Program 2 12:45 – 2:30 p.m.
PSYCHEDELIA (14:58 min, Cinematology Center, Philippines, 2011)
Directed and written by Joni Gutierrez
Psychedelic journey into the inner self invokes the spirits and inspires music and poetry.
CONVERSATIONS. MUSINGS (12 min, USA/Philippines, 2011)
Produced, directed and written by Adrian Ellis Alarilla
With the use of found travel footage, the short film tells of two lovers separated by choice and circumstance.
DOLORES (76 min, Dramatis Personae, Philippines, 2009)
Directed and written by Lito Casaje
A young girl, seemingly innocent yet confused of the blurring line of love and lust, is betrayed by those who professed to care for her.
Program 3 2:45 – 5:00 p.m.
TOOTHBRUSH (23 min, USA, 2011)
Produced, directed and written by Tonilyn A. Sideco
In a film about conflict and desire, the protagonist, Cor, faces the devastating challenge of letting go of a painful relationship as two, three and maybe, even four women come in and out of her life.
TAKSIKAB (114 min, Astral Productions, Philippines, 2010)
Directed and written by Archie del Mundo
On the day of a new President’s inauguration, people meander through their daily lives: their relationship, desires and means of survival. At the film’s core, a taxi driver breaks down as he struggles through his own sexual frustration.
UP CINEMA - a student organization based at the UP Film Institute (UPFI) - in association with OPTIMA DIGITAL and NIKON PHILIPPINES… proudly presents.. PILING OBRANG VIDYO 8: An Interschool Video Festival & Competition! December 9, 2011, 1:00pm-5:00pm at the UP Cine Adarna, UPFI Film Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. Ticket (covers all the entries listed below) at PhP 80. See you at the POV! =)
These entries compete for the following awards:
BEST NARRATIVE FILM
BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM
BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM
VIEWER’S CHOICE AWARD (Narrative, Experimental, and Documentary)
CINEMASTER’S CHOICE (Narrative, Experimental, and Documentary)
CITATIONS (Narrative):
Narrative
Experimental
Documentary
“Grounded” - December 8-16, 2011 – Plaridel Hall, College of Mass Communication (CMC), University of the Philippines Diliman. A photo exhibit by the CMC junior faculty. See you at the opening on December 8 at 2:30pm! Pizza, pasta, and wine will be served. =)
Artists’ statement:
As media educators, practitioners, communication scholars, and public intellectuals, we avow that theory should push the boundaries of practice. We share our knowledge, experience, and sense of advocacy with our students who we envision to be the new breed of excellent, empowered, and socially responsible media-makers. Being “grounded” extends to the work we do, the issues we write about, and the examples we set. We are grounded because our social practice is one with the Filipino struggle, never compromising, always for the truth.
Joni Gutierrez’ digital film, Psychedelia made it to the 23rd Gawad CCP Independent Film & Video Competition Festival (22-25 Nov 2011), Asia’s longest-running indie film festival! Screening schedule: 24 Nov/Thu (7:00PM), under Experimental Category – Programme 2 (1 hr 56 mins), CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde (Dream Theatre) | Admission is Free!
Psychedelia (2011, RT-14:58) - Experimental Video. Psychedelic journey into the inner self invokes the spirits and inspires music and poetry. Directed by Joni Gutierrez | Original Music by Alden Copuyoc (All guitar parts were recorded using DND guitars.) | Poetry by Santiago Villafania.
IKA-23 GAWAD CCP PARA SA ALTERNATIBONG PELIKULA AT VIDEO
(The 23rd CCP Independent Film & Video Competition & Festival)
November 22-25, 2011
at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde (Dream Theatre)
SCREENING SCHEDULE
EXPERIMENTAL Programme 1 (1 hr 52 mins)
22 Nov/Tue (7:00PM)
EXPERIMENTAL Programme 2 (1 hr 56 mins)
24 Nov/Thu (7:00PM)
ANIMATION (1 hr 26 mins)
23 Nov/Wed (7:00PM)
DOCUMENTARY Programme 1 (2 hrs 4 mins)
22 Nov/Tue (1:00PM)
DOCUMENTARY Programme 2 (2 hrs 3 mins)
23 Nov/Wed (10:00AM)
DOCUMENTARY Programme 3 (2 hrs)
23 Nov/Wed (3:30PM)
DOCUMENTARY Programme 4 (2 hrs 4 mins)
24 Nov/Thu (1:00PM)
DOCUMENTARY Programme 5 (1 hr 57 mins)
25 Nov/Fri (10:00AM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 1 (2 hrs 02 mins)
22 Nov/Tue (10:00AM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 2 (2 hrs 6 mins)
22 Nov/Tue (3:30PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 3 (2 hrs 7 mins)
22 Nov/Tue (9:30PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 4 (2 hrs 5 mins)
23 Nov/Wed (1:00PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 5 (2 hrs 7 mins)
23 Nov/Wed (9:30PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 6 (2 hrs 4 mins)
24 Nov/Thu (10:00AM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 7 (2 hrs 5 mins)
24 Nov/Thu (3:30PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 8 (2 hrs 4 mins)
24 Nov/Thu (9:30PM)
SHORT FEATURE Programme 9 (2 hrs 8 mins)
25 Nov/Fri (1:00PM)
Posters of the short films of my Film 131 students at the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI), 1st Semester, 2011-2012.
A representative from the GMA News TV show Brigada called me up yesterday to ask me if they could use my video of the Manila Bay sunset. Of course I said yes. That night, I was happy to see my video clip in their story on Manila Bay. Here’s the original video:
The screen is a battleground; within its frame, socio-cultural identities fight for fair – if not accurate – representation via the moving image. The struggle in the visualization of women in cinema has so much in common with the woman’s larger battles in everyday life. As women uphold gender equality within a patriarchal society, women characters in film push the boundaries of their roles, while women filmmakers explore new and challenging frontiers in independent filmmaking during the age of the pixel.
On its 20th year, the International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF), celebrates the new breed of women independent filmmakers who explore innovative forms of expression, discourse, and liberation in the digital film medium. For the IWFF, these works are pixels – of various tints and shades – that dynamically interact with each other to digitally paint a picture of how women view the world, how the world views women, and how women would like the world to view them. Through a forum that will follow the screenings, these indie filmmakers will articulate their insights about their artistic practice and their viewpoints on the imaging of women in cinema.
- Joni Gutierrez, Write-up for the 20th International Women’s Film Festival (IWFF) held on March 16, 2011 at the UPFI Film Center, University of the Philippines Diliman
20th IWFF Diwata Awardee: Armida Siguion-Reyna
AVP: Armida Siguion-Reyna: Alagad ng Sining (2011)
Interviews with: Armida Siguion-Reyna, Bibeth Orteza, Gigi Alfonso, Ph.D., and Nicanor Tiongson, Ph.D.
Directed by:
Joni Gutierrez
Director of Photography:
Aaron Cabangis
Production Manager:
Jed Medrano
Best Practices in Indie Filmmaking in Asia
Filipino independent film writer-producer Raymond Lee, young Korean filmmaker Yoon Sung-Hyun, and Thai director-producer Aditya Assarat talked about the best practices in indie filmmaking in Asia.
Mr. Raymond Lee stated that some good qualities that independent filmmakers have are flexibility, resourcefulness, and a childlike openness to the possibility of having a good plan go wrong. These enable indie filmmakers to make the most out of every challenging situation in the production process. He also stressed the value of patience with collaborators and the context of production. For him, a good independent film is a cinematic equivalent of “slow food” that is nutritious as it is delicious.
Mr. Yoon Sung-Hyun acknowledged the importance of government support in his development as a filmmaker. He considers himself very fortunate that his first short films at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, and later, his first full-length film as an alumnus of the Korean Academy of Film Arts, were supported by the government via the funding mechanisms that it had in place at the said film schools.
Mr. Aditya Assarat asserted that it’s good practice to look at independent filmmaking as “a very expensive hobby,” instead of a business. He remarked that indie filmmaking does not make sense as a business because it entails making a product that the producers are not yet sure if they can distribute or sell. For indie filmmakers to survive, they need faith and passion. He related that whenever he is asked why he keeps on doing independent films, he always responds, “It’s a small price to pay for a dream.” He shares that this has driven him in steering his independent film outfit, Pop Pictures.
In the discussion that followed, the three panel speakers shared the importance of the pursuit of making independent films accessible to the general population, not just the niche market of the film festival circuits or art houses. For Mr. Yoon Sung-Hyun, this encounter with the “ordinary audience” completes the process of filmmaking while for Mr. Aditya Assarat, primary reason for making a film is for the wider public to see it. The three panelists reinforced the practice of using international film festivals such as Pusan, Rotterdam, and Cannes, as platforms for free publicity that, hopefully, will facilitate the independent film’s screenings in local theaters in their home countries.
Lastly, the panelists highlighted the prospects of Internet marketing platforms such as blogs and YouTube and social media such as Facebook and Twitter in creating word-of-mouth for their films. For them, these enhancements in the marketing and new media exhibition aspects of indie filmmaking present so many possibilities in making independent films more accessible to the public and the cultures that these films represent.
- Report by Joni Gutierrez
