Films in competition to see this Cinemalaya 15

The posters and other promotional materials for the 15th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival feature creepy looking eyeball balloons encouraging movie goers to see this year's selection of films this August 2-13, 2019 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and in key cities around the country.

Film makers of the 15th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival

Just like the balloons, Cinemalaya takes flight with simultaneous screenings not just in Metro Manila (CCP, Ayala Cinemas and various micro-cinemas) but also in key cities in the country like Pampanga, Naga, Legazpi, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Davao.

A press conference at the Cultural Center of the Philippines presented what is expected of this year's Cinemalaya, like the films in competition, the Asian film selections, the exhibition films, exhibits, book launchings, and a whole lot more.

Here are the short films of the 15th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

'Wag Mo 'Kong Kausapin

Director: Josef Dielle Gacutan

An elderly man tries to repair his relationship with his estranged son, but a mysterious black figure gets in the way.

Disconnection Notice

Director: Glenn Lowell Averia

Away from his home in the province, Paul shuffles between the responsibilities of being the eldest sibling in their apartment and reconnecting with his youngest brother Carl who now lives with him.

Gatilyo

Director: Harold Lance Pialda

The lone survivor of an ambush is being haunted by the war he survived.

Heist School

Director: Julius Renomeron, Jr.

A ragtag group of students try to steal from the faculty room as they save both their grades and friendship.

Hele ng Maharlika

Director: Norvin de los Santos

In the midst of an ongoing siege, a reluctant child combatant finds a safe place to pray where he meets a newly orphaned, infidel boy who seeks refuge in the unknown.

Kontrolado ni Girly ang Buhay N'ya

Director: Gilb Baldoza

Gay teenager Girly looks for a job in a world he is unaware of.

Sa Among Agwat

Director: Don Senoc

Jun is a farmer who lives near a pineapple field with his mother Dita and his brother Mako. His aunt from Manila who can't bear a child offers to adopt Mako with a promise to give him a good life. Jun and Mako face their impending separation and think of ways they can spend every minute together.

Sa Gabing Tanging Liwanag ay Paniniwala

Director: Francis Amir Guillermo

The continuous disappearance of townsmen ignited the town captain to search the woods in order to find out who is behind the disappearances and where are the people being brought to. Upon his search, the town captain and his son came across a mysterious answer.

Tembong

Director: Shaira Advincula

In a culture where designs are dreamt about and to be woven only by women, a T’boli man is challenged to face a cultural norm as the abaca goddess shows him a pattern to weave in his dreams.

The Shoemaker

Director:  Sheron Dayoc

Set in Marikina, the shoe capital of the Philippines, an aging lady shoemaker gets a visit from her first love who abandoned her for three decades.

Here are the feature length films of the 15th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

ANi (The Harvest)

Director: Kim Zuñiga and Sandro Del Rosario

Cast: Zyren Dela Cruz, Ricky Davao, Miguel Valdes, Marc Felix, Anna Luna, JM Canlas, Rolando Inocencio, Rap Robes, Victor Medina, Mio Maranan, Chryssta Cordoves, Jermaine Choa Peck

Victor Medina, Marc Felix, Zyren Dela Cruz, Jermaine Choa Peck, Miguel Valdes, 
Kim Zuniga, Sandro del Rosario, Rap Robes, and Mio Maranan

When his grandfather falls ill, an orphaned boy and his malfunctioning robot embark on a quest to look for magical grains that he believes will save the old man’s life.

Belle Douleur (Beautiful Pain)

Director: Joji Villanueva Alonso

Cast: Kit Thompson, Mylene Dizon, Marlon Rivera, Jenny Jamora, Hannah Ledesma

Kit Thompson

Belle Douleur tells the story of a woman’s journey of finding happiness as she breaks free from the confines that society puts on women.

Children of the River

Director: Maricel Cabrera-Cariaga

Cast: Noel Comia, Jr., Ricky Oriarte, Dave Justin Francis, Junyka Santarin, JR Custodio, Juancho Triviño, Jay Manalo, Rich Asuncion, Kareen Oriarte, Jennifer Acosta, Ma. Luisa Herrera

Noel Comia, Jr.

Maricel Cabrera-Cariaga, Noel Comia, Jr., Junyka Santarin, Ricky Oriarte

The blissful simplicity of life for four childhood friends comes to a tragic halt when phone calls came late one morning.

Edward

Director: Thop Nazareno

Cast: Louise Abuel, Dido dela Paz, Elijah Canlas, Manuel Chua, Ella Cruz

Thop Nazareno, Elijah Canlas, and Louise Abuel

A public hospital serves as a witness to a young boy’s rite of passage when he is stuck to take care of his ailing father. Caught in a place where life itself is in limbo, the boy treats the hospital grounds as his playground, not knowing that it will be his source of liberation in the end.

Fuccbois

Director: Eduardo Roy Jr.

Cast: Royce Cabrera, Kokoy de Santos, Ricky Davao

Royce Cabrera and Kokoy de Santos

Royce Cabrera, Eduardo Roy, Jr., and Kokoy de Santos

Ace (23) and Miko (17) desperately want to become famous actors but it seems the Universe has a different plan for their lives.

Iska

Director: Theodore Boborol

Cast: Ruby Ruiz, Soliman Cruz, Ricky Rivero, Jonic Magno, Jomari Angeles, RK Bagatsing, Pryle Gura, Angie Castrence, Ana Abad Santos, Jade Lopez, Elora Españo, Cherry Malvar, Sunshine Teodoro, Divine Acuna, Beauty Gonzales

Theodore Boborol, Ruby Ruiz, Mary Rose Colindres, Pryle Gura, and Jade Lopez

A loving but impoverished grandmother of an autistic child tragically loses everything and turns into someone society reckons her to be.

John Denver Trending

Director: Arden Rod Condez

Cast: Jansen Magpusao, Meryll Soriano, Glenn Mas, Sammy Rubido, Vince Philip Alegre, Jofranz Ambubuyog, Christian Alarcon, Zandro Leo Canlog, Andy Yuarata, Ricky Perez, Renato Sagot, Enrique Sanchez, Bert Briones, Elmer Yuarata, Eldin Labris, Sunshine Teodoro, Luz Venus, Estela Patino, Joerlyn Samulde, Akia Buenaflor, Shan Estoya, Jinalyn Tandoy

Jansen Magpusao

A 14 year old farmboy’s life is suddenly upended when a video of him brutally attacking a classmate went viral.

Malamaya (The Color of Ash)

Directors: Danica Sta Lucia and Leilani Chavez

Cast: Sunshine Cruz, Enzo Pineda, Raymond Bagatsing, Bernadette Allyson

A pessimistic, uninspired middle-aged artist finds spark with a millennial photographer who leads her on a path of creative and sexual reawakening.

Pandanggo sa Hukay

Director: Shéryl Rose Andes

Cast: Iza Calzado, Ybes Bagadiong, Acey Aguilar, Diva Montelaba, Charlie Dizon, Star Orjaliza, Mercedes Cabral, Sarah Pagcaliwagan-Brakensiek

Iza Calzado

A small-town midwife’s preparation for a job interview is disrupted by series of unfortunate turn of events.

TABON

Director: Xian Lim

Cast: Christopher Roxas, Ynna Asistio, Dexter Doria, Bapbap Reyes, Menggie Cobarrubias, Leon Miguel, Benjie Felipe, Lao Rodriguez, Richard Manabat

Xian Lim

A man's belief in reality is tested when suspects are accused of a crime they believe to not have committed.

Bells and whistles (and more) in Rak of Aegis' 7th run

The cast of Rak of Aegis

The last time I saw Philippines Educational Theater Association's (PETA) Rak of Aegis was way back during one of its earlier reruns, probably the third. After some years, I finally had the chance to catch it once again at the opening Gala Night presented by PLDT Home.

Time have passed and I thought that I've already forgotten what this musical is all about. In a nutshell, it's about Aileen, an optimistic young woman who dreams of making it viral online to help her parents who have been struggling financially ever since their barangay Venezia got submerged in flood months ago. And the audience gets to join the journey of Aileen and the rest of the residents of Venezia as they try to rise up above the waters while belting out tunes from the discography of the rock band Aegis.

Robert Sena, Aicelle Santos, Isay Alvarez-Seña, and Pepe Herrera

As members of the original cast, led by Aicelle Santos as Aileen, Robert Seña as Kiel, Isay Alvarez-Seña as Mary Jane, and one of Rak's breakout stars Pepe Herrera as Tolits performed on stage, memories from years ago came flooding back as the show went on. I did notice that some of the jokes involving current trending topics had been updated to avoid being stale.

What surprised me very much with this latest viewing were bells and whistles that were either relatively new, or were simply not noticed by me before. Various stage effects like sunflowers and vines appearing onstage, actual rain, and the flood actually subsiding were upgrades that have raised further the production value of PETA's runaway hit. I learned later on that the flood subsiding was through a tube that pumped out the water from the stage. And this water is actually recycled and treated. So it's not like it's water down the drain for every performance which is insensitive in line with the recent water crisis.

The cast and the show were polished and spot on like clockwork but there were still some unexpected moments like an ensemble member slipping in the flood, enabling one to do a quick ad lib in reference to that mishap. Another of these moments was when Jewel's (Ron Alfonso) massive carnival head dress hit Aicelle in the face. This was definitely not in the script but it provided additional laughter. Such is the joy and thrill of live theater since it is very unlikely that this also happened in every performance.

Bayang Barrios, Jenine Desiderio, Kimberly Baluzo, Derrick Monasterio,
and Noel Cabangon

The current run also welcomed new cast members including OPM legends Noel Cabangon, Jenine Desiderio, and Bayang Barrios, along with actor Derrick Monasterio and the newest Aileen, Kimberly Baluzo. They performed excerpts and answered a handful of questions from the press at a pre-performance showcase.

Seeing bits from these new cast members just made me want to catch some of their performances too before this run ends on September 29, 2019 at the PETA Theater Center.

More sets and final thoughts on VLF 15

In a surprising turn of events, I was able to watch two more sets (Sets B and C) in this year's Virgin Labfest 15. My overall total of three sets this year is a vast improvement over the last few years combined despite being at the Cultural Center of the Philippines most of the time. Here are a few thoughts about the plays that I was able to catch and also about the VLF 15 in general.

Layeta Bucoy's The Unreachable Star tells about the homecoming of Ali (Lorrie Figueroa), an engineering student at UP who is basically the hope of the family to get them out of poverty. But instead of a triumphant return, it was a defeated and dejected Ali who came back being recently diagnosed with a mental illness. The strong and convincing performances of Tex Ordoñez-de Leon and Jonathan Tadoian (who replaced Raffy Tejada midway through the festival's run) as Ali's eccentric parents were miles apart from the best effort of the relatively new to the scene Figueroa. Ali's older flamboyant gay brother, played by Reynald Santos, tried my patience with over the top lines that were supposed to lighten up the otherwise dreary material.

In U Z Elisorio's Anak Ka Ng, Connie and her daughter Pina engage in a scathing exchange as both come to terms with a death in the family. The superb performances by Skyzx Labastilla and Krystle Valentino as the mother and daughter at odds carried this play, unfortunately exposing Figueroa's weakness a lot more. I didn't know what was the purpose of Rafael Tibayan's Niko, since he didn't serve anything to move plot or flesh out characterization. Just like in the previous play, this one ended in a kind of an ambiguous stalemate with the two characters ending up in laughter as the lights dimmed.

Undeniably, this year's crowd pleaser and most talked about play this year was definitely Wanted: Male Boarders by Rick Patriarca. With unapologetic, very gay, and camp stage direction complete with nudity, song and dance numbers, breaking the fourth wall, and most of all, Lance Rebolando's acrobatics as Melody, this play enthralled the audience. It doesn't matter that the actual material wasn't groundbreaking at all once you dig on it. But this is what draws the crowd in. Thankfully, it did bring genuine laughs.

Performances for Anthony Kim Vergara's A Family Reunion were spot on. The typical Filipino family dynamics like the squabbles between the siblings Roch (Chrome Cosio) and Hershey (Lesley Lina) and how everyone dotes on the youngest one, Nick (Joshua Martin Tayco), felt all too familiar. As the tension builds, compounded further by the revelation of Nick's Japanese/Filipina fiancee, one couldn't help but wonder how on earth could this supposed to be happy, family dinner end up well. It turned out that the father (Gie Onida) has a revelation of his own. It stopped the squabbling siblings to their senses but for everything to get all rosy all of a sudden felt too hasty for me. This was the play where an ambiguous, kind of stalemate ending with everyone still processing the dad's shocking revelation would've served better.

A totally diifferent take on ex-lovers wondering where they've gone wrong was the appeal of Dingdong Novenario's The Bride and the Bachelor. Starring the always charming Via Antonio as the Bride and Alex Medina in his theater stage debut as the Bachelor, this intimate piece had some parallel universe, astral projection phenomenon, or whatever you may call it, element in it. Basically, the Bride (wearing her wedding gown) somehow magically enters the Bachelor's pad exactly at the same time when her wedding takes place. And the two have a conversation on what happened between them and how they ended up where they are right now. Nothing earth shattering but the unusual element did give this an unusual and fresh approach to an unotherwise often tackled theme.

Surrogare by J. Dennis Teodisio featured gay lovers Adam (Roeder Camañag) and Eve (Paul Jake Paule) celebrating their 7th anniversary. What was supposed to be a romantic dinner between the two was turned upside down when Adam brought along Ana (Karen Romualdez) much to Eve's dismay. After lengthy arguments between the two lovers, they eventually agree to Adam's plan all along which was actually way too telegraphed. This play featured yet another flamboyant gay character who provided most of the humor through his one liners, mostly laced with innuendo and delivered over the top. It actually made me question on how Adam managed to stay in a relationship with him for seven years.

This also made me wonder if Eve and the other gay characters like Reynald Santos' kuya in Unreachable were written like this or turning them into flamboyant characters were a directorial decision to spice things up. It is unsettling to know that if either was the case, then gay characters have been boxed once again as the loud, comic relief.

Returning next year for the Revisited Set are Wanted: Male Boarders, Anak Ka Ng, and Herlyn Alegre's Fangirl, which is not a surprising decision. Even though I failed to see Fangirl, I've heard much praise about it. Not yet sure if VLF 16 will be at the new blackbox theater that is scheduled to be inaugurated later this year. But what is sure is that next edition will be a bit earlier with the run happening in June. It remains to be seen if I'll be able to defy all odds and catch more sets and plays next year.

A tale of forbidden love at the 1st Colombian Film Festival

Flavio Chomnalez, Lhuana Lopez, Gerardo Regalado, David Montoya, Pilar Cuadra,
Giancarlo Mosciatti, and Isidora Rojas

The Embassy of Colombia and the Film Development Council of the Philippines presented the first ever Colombian Film Festival in the country at the Cinematheque Centre Manila.

A diverse selection of six films were featured at the festival namely Of Love and Other Demons, Mamá, The Dragon Defense, Keyla, Bad Lucky Goat, and Mateo. The film festival opened with a reception night attended by members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, members of the media, and film enthusiasts. This was followed by the screening Del Amor y otros demonios/Of Love and Other Demons. A fitting opener, I might add, since this is a film adaptation of the novel written by Gabriel García Márquez, Nobel Prize Winner for Literature and very likely the most well known Colombian here in the Philippines.

Colombian Embassy's chargé d'affaires
David Montoya

The Colombian Film Festival heads over to Cinematheque Centre Iloilo this August 20-24, 2019 and then will travel to Cinematheque Centre Davao this October 2-5, 2019. 

Del Amor y otros demonios/Of Love and Other Demons

Directed by Hilda Hidalgo, the film tells about the story of Sierva Maria (Eliza Triana), the 13 year old daughter of the Marquis, who is whisked away to the convent after getting bitten by a rabid dog and then thought to be possessed by the devil. Enter Father Cayetano Delaura (Pablo Derqui) who the Bishop assigned to exorcise the demon out of the young girl. But Father Cayetano, who firmly believes that she is not possessed, falls for her instead 

The animosity of Sierva Maria's parents towards each other and towards her as well, coupled with the contempt that the Bishop and the Abbess have for one another, just made the plight of Sierva Maria and Father Cayetano more tragic and hopeless. Despite the seemingly forbidden nature of their love, it somehow seemed pure and chaste when compared to how repulsive the people around them are.

Like so many films adapted from novels, something had to give. The novel had more layers and nuances that were lost in the film. It is highly recommended to read the book after seeing the movie or even if not seeing it. This is a Gabriel Garcia Marquez work for crying out loud!

RAd's Pageturners | Gabriel García Márquez' Of Love and Other Demons

Right from the start the book sets up mystery and intrigue with a prologue reciunting on how Márquez, a young journalist at the time, was supposed to have stumbled upon the skeletal remains of a young girl with more than 20 meters of copper hair still intact even centuries after her death.

Reading the pages just reaffirms the inherent difficulty in adapting Márquez' words to the silver screen. Never had descriptions of bowel movements and foul odors emanating from a woman's body sounded so delectable. And these words by Marquez can only be savored by reading the pages of his works.