Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time, illustrated by Stéphane Heuet exhibit at Alliance Française de Manille

As part of the ongoing 75th Anniversary of the Philippine-French Diplomatic Relations celebrations, the Embassy of France and Alliance Française de Manille present the Marcel Proust: In Search of Lost Time exhibit featuring the illustrations of French artist, Stéphane Heuet, currently ongoing at the Alliance Française de Manille Gallery until October 31, 2022.

Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time is the story of author's life told in seven volumes. It is considered as the major work of French fiction of the early 20th century.

Reihane Zitounie, Stéphane Heuet, Ambassador Michèle Boccoz

In adapting Proust's work into a graphic novel, French illustrator Stéphane Heuet has built his drawings as visual transcriptions of the text. He has worked on re-cutting and scripting from passages of the novel in order to reconstitute a narrative that works in comics.

The exhibit features a total of 26 one of a kind and limited edition prints of the illustrations from Heuet's graphic novel adaptation of Proust's novel. The prints on exhibit are for sale.

Compared to American superhero comics or Japanese manga that highlight action sequences, Heuet's illustrations are picturesque scenes, with the human characters having clean, simple lines placed among highly detailed backgrounds, typical of the ligne claire style.

Limited copies of the graphic novels, both in French and in English were available for sale at the exhibit opening but they quickly sold out. Heuet said that the AFM library will have copies of them soon.

Marcel Proust: In Search of Lost Time exhibit, a part of the 75th Anniversary of Philippine-French Diplomatic Relations celebrations, is organized by the Embassy of France to the Philippines, Alliance Française de Manille, sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, Fairmont Makati, Filmloft OPC, and in partnership with Komiket and Philippine International Comics Festival.

Marc Piton, Reihane Zitounie, Ambassador Michèle Boccoz, Stéphane Heuet,
Xavier Leroux, and Pierre Malvache

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French choreographer Redha Benteifour to debut new work in CCP Dance Series' Premieres and Encores

The commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Philippine-French Diplomatic Relations continues with CCP Dance Series' Premieres and Encores this October 28-29, 2022 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).

Co-presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Embassy of France to the Philippines, Premieres and Encores will feature artists of the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines (ARDP) and the Artists of CCP's Professional Artist Support Program (PASP) performing pieces by French choreographer Redha Benteifour and young Filipino choreographers.

Front: Redha Benteifour
Back: Alice Reyes and Eva Marie Salvador

The show sees the premiere Benteifour's L'espoir Des Lendemain/The Hope of Tomorrow and the restaging of L'homme Assis Dans Le Fauteuil/The Man on the Armchair.

Other works to be performed are Visayan Suite of Dances by John Ababon, AL Abraham, Erl Sorilla, and Ronelson Yadao and I Wanna Say Something by JM Cabling.

Alice Reyes, Eva Marie Salvador, and Redha Benteifour 

Premieres and Encores will have its Gala Night on October 28, 2022, 8:00 PM. Other performances will be on October 29, 2022, 3:00 & 8:00 PM.

A class act by Polish conductor Grzegorz Nowak at PPO concert

Violinist Vincent Owen Romanban and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra

The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra season concert for October saw a class act performance by Polish conductor Grzegorz Nowak making the big stage debut of young violinist Vincent Owen Romanban a memorable one.

Vincent was a bundle of nerves at the start, as if the task of playing Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E flat minor, Op. 64 with the orchestra would overwhelm him. But Nowak's exemplary conducting guided the inexperienced soloist with such care and sensitivity, enabling him to gain more confidence with every measure. By the time of the second movement, Vincent was clearly more at ease up until the end of the concerto.

It is the same deft touch that Nowak exhibited in the service of the other pieces in the program. Without any unnecessary flashiness, Nowak's take on Lucio San Pedro's Lahing Kayumanggi and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture highlighted the flowing narrative as well as the clarity of the form and structure of these two programmatic pieces.

Conductor Grzegorz Nowak and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra 

With Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (1919), Nowak displayed a mastery of the piece's complexity showcasing the wide range of dynamics and different rhythms of this suite He remained unfazed despite the wailing of a young boy who got rattled by the sudden, jolting bass drum. Just like how he managed to make the nervous Vincent feel at ease with the violin concerto, Nowak was also successful in making the audience feel the same with Firebird.

The way Nowak worked with Vincent, despite the latter's inexperience, bodes well for the Polish conductor's chances to be the next Music Director/Principal Conductor of the PPO.

RAd views Película 2022: A tale of two Javiers

Javier Galván, Amb. Marcela Ordoñez, Amb. Miguel Utray, and Joy Polloso

After two years of online editions, the 21st Película Spanish Film Festival had a festive opening night at Shangri-La Plaza Mall with movie buffs getting to see contemporary Spanish language films on the big screen once again at the mall's Red Carpet Cinema.

Shang Properties Inc. EVP Joy Polloso 

This year, Película offers two Javiers: Javier Bardem and Javier Cámara. These two leading Spanish actors have become favorites by Philippine audiences owing to several of their films being part of the festival's since its inception way back in 2002.

The opening night saw the Javier Bardem starrer El buen patrón/The Good Boss, a dark comedy of the corporate world. Bardem stars as Julio Blanco, the seemingly benevolent boss of a family owned industrial scale factory that is up for a business award. But when problems with his employees start popping up and threaten his chances of snagging the much coveted award, Blanco resorts to manipulative schemes.

Directed by Fernando León de Armoa, this film is clearly a Javier Bardem vehicle. Even as the movie's final quarter plods too long and plot holes appear, Bardem's magnetic performance as Blanco manages to keep the film from tipping off the scales.

The film starring the other Javier is the romantic comedy Sentimental/The People Upstairs directed by Cesc Gay.

In this film that happens in real time, Javier Cámara stars Julio (coincidentally, the Bardem and Cámara's characters are both named Julio) whose marriage with Ana (Belén Cuesta) has been lacking spice. Add to the couple's frustrations are their upstairs neighbors Salva (Alberto San Juan) and Laura (Griselda Siciliani) whose night time noises are a source of discomfort for both Julio and Ana.

Instituto Cervantes Director Javier Galván 

When Ana invites their neighbors over, she and Julio debate on how to open up the sensitive subject to them. Once the ice is broken though, a lot more than just noises from night time activies are brought out on the open.

For a film that is basically a little over 80 minutes of just four people talking inside an apartment, the witty banter of each character and their respective reactions to the twists and turns that come along the way truly engage the viewer. One cannot help but to stick it out until the end to see where these two couples will end up by the time the credits roll.

Spanish Ambassador Miguel Utray

Sentimental can still be seen as the closing film of Película on October 16, 2022. There may still be a chance to see El buen patrón of this ends up as this year's Premio del Publíco/Audience Choice Award. Catch the final weekend of Película Spanish Film Festival at the Red Carpet Cinema, Shangri-La Plaza Mall.