Friday, January 29, 2021

CCP 2021 Thirteen Artists Awards opens submissions for nominations


The Cultural Center of the Philippines, through its Visual Arts and Museum Division has recently announced that it has started accepting nominations for the 2021 Thirteen Artists Awards.

Art councils, art groups, heads/deans of art schools, museum and gallery curators and directors, art critics, and past Thirteen Artists Awardees may nominate a maximum of three (3) artists each.

Artists submitted for nominations must meet these requirements to be eligible.
  • Body of work characterized by artistic integrity, innovativeness, and forcefulness of ideas
  • Responsiveness to contemporary realities
  • Evidence of sustained artistic activity demonstrated by a track record of individual exhibitions and group shows for at least the past three years
  • Engagement with contemporary visual art forms including, but not limited to, painting, sculpture, new media, installation, performance art, photography, printmaking and digital imaging
  • Filipino citizenship
  • Less than 40 years old in the year of conferment or must be born 1982 onwards
The CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division (VAMD) under the Production and Exhibition Department and the Office of the Artistic Director will convene a Selection Committee composed of four (4) past awardees and the head of the CCP VAMD. The decision of the Selection Committee is final.

The prizes of a Thirteen Artists Awardee include a cash grant to defray the cost of materials for producing new work for a group exhibition at the CCP Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery), which will open with the formal awarding ceremonies; A trophy designed by a 13 Artists Awardee and specially commissioned for the 2021 Thirteen Artists Awards as well as Participation in CCP’s public programs of discussions, lectures, workshops and other activities.

Since its first presentation 50 years ago, the Thirteen Artists Awards (TAA) started as a curatorial project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Museum under the directorship of its first curator Roberto Chabet. The TAA was created in order to showcase the works of artists who grasped to “restructure, restrengthen and renew artmaking and art thinking…that lend viability to Philippine art”. It was Raymundo Albano, the next Director of the CCP Museum and Non-theater Operations who transformed the 13 Artists into the awards program that it is today. The 13 Artists exhibition was mounted every two years from 1970 to 1980, and again in 1988, 1990, 1992 and 1994. It was revived in 2000, and changed to a triennial format, which it follows until today.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from bit.ly/taa2021nominations and completed nomination forms are to be sent to ccp.thirteenartists@gmail.com no later than March 1, 2021, 11:59 PM. No hardcopy nomination forms will be accepted.

For inquiries, contact the CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division, Production and Exhibition Department at tel. 8832-1125 loc. 1504/1505, mobile phone 0917-603-3809, email ccp.thirteenartists@gmail.com or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph and Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ccpvamd.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

10th Moviemov Italian Film Festival returns online, gives tribute to Pinocchio


The Moviemov Italian Film Festival marks its return this 2021 with a tribute to Pinocchio, a selection of 8 films, and more happening on February 1-6, 2021 at the My Movies virtual movie house.

For its 10th edition, and second to be held online, the festival introduces Moviemov Industry focusing on the business side of film in addition to festival mainstays Moviemov Showcase which is dedicated to the film screenings, and Moviemov for Social Issues which will deal with social issues concerning both Italy and the Philippines.

Actress Sara Serraiocco, who stars in one of films to be shown this year, is this editions’s Guest of Honor aka the Godmother of the festival.

“I’m honored to be the guest of honor of Moviemov, a festival that gives visibility to Italian movies in the Philippines”, declared Sara Serraiocco. “Especially in this difficult time for cinema, with the movie houses still closed.”

One of the main highlights this year is the tribute to Pinocchio, in celebration of its 140th anniversary since the character’s appearance in Carlo Collodi’s children’s novel, initially serialized on the weekly Giornale per i bambini (children’s newspaper), between 1881 and 1882.

Various feature film adaptations, including the 2002 Roberto Benigni starrer, lead the Pinocchio tribute. A masterclass navigating through literature and cinema will also take place organized by the Embassy of Italy in Manila in collaboration with the Philippine-Italian Association and the Ateneo de Naga University Press.

Here are the eight films of the 10th Edition of Moviemov Italian Film Festival.

Non odiare/Thou Shalt Not Hate


Director: Mauro Mancini
Cast: Alessandro Gassmann, Sara Serraiocco, Luka Zunic, Lorenzo Buonora

The son of a Holocaust survivor who lives in Trieste as a surgeon begins to doubt his actions of refusing to help a victim of a traffic accident that he encountered on his way home from work.

Volevo nascondermi/Hidden Away


Director: Giorgio Diritti
Cast: Elio Germano, Leonardo Carrozzo, Oliver Ewy, Gianni Fantoni, Andrea Gherpelli, Orietta Notari, Denis Campitelli, Guglielmo Pagnozzi, Peter Hottinger, Koch Dagny

Antonio is expelled from Switzerland to Italy against his will. For years he lives in poverty in the Po floodplains, but he never gives up his passion for drawing. The story of Antonio Ligabue, a revolutionary loner in modern art.

I predatori/Predators


Director: Pietro Castellitto
Cast: Massimo Popolizio, Manuela Mandracchia, Pietro Castellitto, Giorgio Montanini, Dario Cassini, Anita Caprioli

This is the story of two households that are complete opposites: the Pavone and Vismara families. One bourgeois and intellectual and the other proletarian and Fascist, these apparently contrary family units share the same jungle: Rome. A trivial accident will bring these two poles together. And the madness of a 25-year-old youth will set them on a collision course, discovering the cards to reveal that everyone has a secret and no one is what he or she seems to be – and that we are all predators.

Palazzo di giustizia/Ordinary Justice


Director: Chiara Bellosi
Cast: Daphne Scoccia, Bianca Leonardi, Sarah Short, Nicola Rignanese, Giovanni Anzaldo, Andrea Lattanzi

Two girls wait in front of a closed courtroom door. There’s playful, headstrong Luce, who’s still little and insecure and there’s dismissive Domenica, who’s almost grown-up. Inside, their fathers are seated on opposite sides of the courtroom. The trial is complicated - was it manslaughter or murder? Out in the hallway, the daughters are unsure about what to do.

Padrenostro


Director: Claudio Noce
Cast: Pierfrancesco Favino, Barbara Ronchi, Mattia Garaci, Francesco Gheghi, Antonio Gerardi, Francesco Colella, Anna Maria De Luca, Mario Pupella, Lea Favino, Eleonora De Luca, Simone Chiacchiararelli

Rome, 1976. Valerio (Mattia Garaci) is 10 yo kid with a fervent imagination. His life is turned upside down when he witnesses a terrorist commando attempting his father Alfonso (Pierfrancesco Favino). From that moment, fear and a sense of vulnerability mark the feelings of the whole family. During those dramatic days Valerio meets Christian (Francesco Gheghi), a compelling boy slightly older than him. Lonely, rebellious and cheeky, Christian seems to come from nowhere. That encounter, in a summer full of discoveries, will change their lives forever.

Punta sacra


Director: Francesca Mazzoleni

The last patch of land – the last triangle of habitable space at the mouth of the Tiber. Its inhabitants call it Punta Sacra, Sacred Point. The story stars the very community of Ostia’s Seadrome, with Franca’s all-female family narrating and driving the tales that make up the Punta Sacra documentary. It is a story where realism and projections into the imaginary intertwine, suspended between nostalgia and inescapable pragmatism. Above all, there is the people’s wish not to leave.

Pinocchio


Director: Matteo Garrone
Cast: Federico Ielapi, Roberto Benigni, Gigi Proietti, Rocco Papaleo, Massimo Ceccherini, Matilda De Angelis, Alida Baldari Calabria, Alessio Di Domenicantonio, Roberto Perpignani, Davide Marotta

Geppetto, an old woodcarver, receives a piece of wood perfect for his next project: a puppet. But something magical happens – the cheeky puppet begins to talk, and can walk, run and eat like any young boy. Geppetto calls him Pinocchio, and brings him up as his son. But Pinocchio finds it hard to be good. Easily led astray, he tumbles from one misadventure to another as he is tricked, kidnapped and chased by bandits through a fantastical world full of imaginative creatures – from the belly of a giant fish, to the land of toys and the field of miracles. His loyal friend, the Fairy with the Turquoise Hair, tries to make him see that his dream – to be a real boy – can never come true until Pinocchio finally changes his ways.

Il mio corpo


Director: Michele Pennetta

In a deep and abandoned Sicily Oscar, the son of a junk dealer, and Stanley, a young immigrant, live on the margins of society. Oscar and his older brother Roberto work with their father, collecting scrap metal from illegal landfills. Each metal has its own value and the Oscar family survives by transforming other people's waste into a new bargaining chip. It is a grueling job. Oscar and Roberto are linked by a common story but the eldest, committed to excel to survive, escapes the role of ally, leaving Oscar alone. For Stanley the worst seems to be behind him: a small apartment for himself, a twoyear residence permit and a friend with whom to share some food and memories. He could leave Sicily and try his luck in a country that gives him a real chance, but something keeps him in this limbo. A seasonal job takes him to the deep hinterland, in lands of old abandoned mines and pastures. In this forgotten place, between debris and scrap metal, the solitudes of Oscar and Stanley will touch for a brief moment.

The screening of the short film, Princess by Silvia Luzi and Luca Bellino, headlines Moviemov for Social segment that serves as a dialogue between Italy and the Philippines. The dialogue will focus on the terrible fire that destroyed the homes of a Filipino community in Rome last August.

New to the festival, Moviemov Industry is an online business section with dedicated screenings and meetings organized with the purpose of promoting audiovisual products through dedicated screenings for buyers, panel discussions and online meetings, among others. This segment is presented in collaboration with the Film Development Council of the Philippines with the support of Ass.For.SEO, and funding by Regione Lazio and MOVIE UP 2020.

Here is the screening schedule of Moviemov Italian Film Festival 2021. Films can be viewed via the My Movies portal.

February 1, 2021
11:00 AM Pinocchio Tribute
6:00 PM Volevo Nascondermi
8:00 PM Talk with director and cast

February 2, 2021
11:00 AM Pinocchio Tribute
4:30 PM Punta sacra
6:30 PM Talk with director, Francesca Mazzoleni
7:30 PM Padrenostro
9:00 PM Masterclass with director and cast

February 3, 2021
11:00 AM Pinocchio Tribute
4:30 PM Palazzo di giustizia
6:30 PM Talk with director and cast
9:00 PM Princess

February 4, 2021
11:00 AM Pinocchio Tribute
4:30 PM I predatori
6:30 PM Talk with the cast

February 5, 2021
4:30 PM Pinocchio
6:30 PM Talk with the cast
7:30 PM Non odiare
9:30 PM Masterclass with director and cast

February 6, 2021
4:30 PM Il mio corpo
6:30 PM Talk with the director, Michele Pennetta
7:30 PM Announcement of Winners

Moviemov Italian Film Festival 2021 is produced by Playtown Roma, under the direction of Fabia Bettini and Gianluca Giannelli, with the support of the Directorate general for Cinema of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage. Since 2010, Moviemov has mounted festivals in Bangkok, Hanoi and Manila.

The festival is organized in the Philippines with the support of the Italian Embassy, the collaboration of the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the Philippine Italian Association, Ateneo de Naga, Xavier University Ateneo de Cagayan, De La Salle University Bacolod (Institute of the Moving Image), De La Salle University Manila, College of Saint Benilde School of Arts and Design, University of the Philippines Diliman Film Institute and media partners like CNN Philippines, ANC, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Business and News.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Cellist Kyong-Min Nam, pianist Dingdong Fiel team up for online concert


Tune in for a night of Nostalgia as the Manila Pianos Artist Series presents cellist Kyong-Min Nam and pianist Dingdong Fiel in an online performance premiering on January 30, 2021, 7:30 PM at the Manila Pianos Artist Series’ Facebook page.

The program for this performance includes cello and piano duo transcriptions of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85 and Salut d’Amour Op. 12, Nicanor Abelardo's Cavatina, Op. 7, and George Canseco’s Gaano Kadalas ang Minsan.

Monday, January 18, 2021

CCP Intertextual launches e-book on Filipino mothers’ experiences in time of Covid-19


With the year 2020 clearly defined by the Covid-19 pandemic, it is inevitable that literature coming out from this period will have the health crisis as its primary focus.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines through its Intertextual Division, is set to launch one such work, an e-book collection of pieces by Filipino mothers about their respective experiences during the pandemic.

Entitled In Certain Seasons: Mothers Write In The Time of COVID, this e-book will be launched on January 23, 2021, 2:00 PM, via the official Facebook pages of the CCP, CCP Intertextual Division, and the Philippine PEN.

The Filipino mother writers whose work are collected in the e-book are:

Kora Dandan Albano (Nanay)
Nikki Alfar (Surviving Ourselves)
Merlie Alunan (Pilgrim Heart)
Alma Anonas-Carpio (Pandemic Kitchen)
Lualhati Bautista (Usapang Rape)
Adelle Chua (Nest Never Empty)
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz (Some Terms of Reference for a Pandemic)
J. G. Dimaranan (Sa Wakas)
May Dolis (Ang Iyong Ama)
Heidi Emily Eusebio-Abad (Isang Panalangin)
Rowena P. Festin (Tanawin Mula sa Aking Bintana)
Geraldine Flores-Ingco (Braso ni Mercedes)
Christine V. Lao (Violin Practice)
Babeth Lolarga (Dreaming of When It's Over)
Maricel Padua Lopez (Sabay: Buhay-Guro, Buhay-Nanay)
Gina Lumauig (When Kindness Becomes Contagious)
Ruth Elynia Mabanglo (Pamamaalam)
Liwliwa Malabed (Mahal Kong Sampinit)
Princess Malonzo (Linggo)
Alma Cruz Miclat (Lola Love in the Pandemic)
Banaue Miclat-Janssen (Learning in the Time of Covid-19)
Aimee Morales (Mother Panawagan)
Reina Mae Nasino (Mensahe ng Pasasalamat at Panawagan)
Marot Nelmida-Flores (Life-Changing)
Eunice Barbara Novio (Yet, We Had Each Other)
Rica Paloma-Espiritu (Chicken Soup)
Mae Ann Reginaldo (Mga Lalaki sa Cubao sa Panahon ng Lockdown)
Rae Rival (Paliligo sa Bakuran)
Hope Sabanpan-Yu (The Garden is Always There)
Adelma Salvador (Bisikleta)
Anna Felicia C. Sanchez (Snapshots from the Pandemic Summer)
Aida F. Santos (Being a Mother in the Underground)
Heidi B. Sarno (Ponx Not Dead)
Lee Sepe (Sa Bawat Bukas)
Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz (Cocooning with No Complaints)
Eleanor Strata (Shelved)
Angela Stuart Santiago (Way to Live)
Almayrah A. Tiburon (Pagluluwal)
Mia Tijam (Directing Grace)
Winnie Velasquez (Takipsilim ni Granny Google)
Lalaine F. Yanilla-Aquino (Roller Coaster of Emotions, Blessings in Disguise, at Reversal of Roles).

Together with the Philippine PEN, the book project aims to understand the importance and the role of women, specifically mothers, and their literature during the global crisis, and promote the narratives of women who are mothers, highlighting that women can be both child-raisers and artists amid the struggles of being a parent.

In Certain Seasons: Mothers Write In The Time of COVID is edited by Che Sarigumba and Jenny Ortuoste and features a cover by Imelda Cajipe Endaya. The book also includes artworks by Imelda Morales, Jenny Ortuoste, Kora Dandan Albano and Chua Keng Keng – Lua.

A copy of the e-book can be availed for free by visiting the CCP Intertextual Division Facebook page, by sending an e-mail to ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com, or by texting 0919-317-5708.

Thursday, January 14, 2021

Cinemalaya 2021 opens submissions for Short Film Category


The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2021 has recently announced that it is now accepting submissions for its Short Film Category.

Allowed only are short films by Filipino filmmakers, produced between February 29, 2020 and March 5, 2021, and with a running time not exceeding 20 minutes.

Getting more technical, submissions should be in MP4 format, with violator/watermark, properly labeled with title, production company, address and contact numbers, production date, director’s name, and running time. A duly completed entry form, synopsis in English, a brief résumé and two (2) recent 2x2 photos of the filmmaker/s must accompany the submitted film.

Entries can be submitted online through the portal bit.ly/CinemalayaShorts2021Form where one can fill out the entry form and upload the film and filmmaker’s profile.

As for offline submissions, film entries must be in a USB enclosed in a long brown envelope properly labeled with the proponent’s name, title of film, and contact details submitted to the Film, Broadcast, and New Media Division (FBNMD), 4F Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.

Deadline of submission of entries will be on March 5, 2021, 6:00 PM.

The entries will be whittled down to ten (10) finalists that will be screened online during the 2021 Cinemalaya Film Festival happening on August 6-15, 2021.