Sine Pop, a post-war house turned boutique theater in Cubao, Quezon City, currently hosts free screenings of short films and video works from across the world.
The initiative is part of MCAD Commons: 2021 Artists’ Film International (AFI) Programme. Established in 2008 by the publicly-funded historical 120-year-old Whitechapel Gallery, AFI showcases contemporary pieces from their regions to be screened across the participating countries.
For 2021, AFI explores the various ways of addressing the concept of care. It features short films handpicked by Crawford Art Gallery in Cork Short, Ireland; GAMeC in Bergamo, Italy; Video-Forum, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein in Berlin, Germany; Project 88 in Mumbai, India; and Ballroom Marfa in Marfa, Texas, USA.
Flight from the City (2015) by Irish artist Clare Langan is a poetic exploration on the concepts of connection, love, separation, and transition following the bond of a mother and child.
Invocation for a Wandering Lake Part 1 & 2 (2016) by American performance artist and film director Patty Chang pictures rituals of care to non-human entities: a lifeless body of a whale off the coast of Newfoundland’s Fogo Islands, a former fishing hub; and the shell of an abandoned ship in the desert of Muynak, Uzbekistan, a defunct seaport on the receded Aral Sea.
My Castle Your Castle (2017) by German ultra-contemporary artist and filmmaker Kerstin Honeit studies the construction site of the rebuilt Berliner Stadtschloss as a place where national hegemonies transformed into identity-generating architectures.
What Has Left Since We Left (2020) by Italian artist and filmmaker Giulio Squillacciotti evokes the feelings of loss for a Europe that no longer exists.
Setting the Stage for a Gathering of Friends (2020) by Indian writer and artist Himali Singh Soin captures the essence of uncertainty, fear, chance, missed connections, and false promises in the visualization of an EnsÅ, a special circle form in Zen Buddhism.
The Philippine screening likewise includes Mag-uuma (Farmer) (2014) by Filipino filmmaker and human rights activist Kiri Dalena, currently installed at Project Space Pilipinas in Lucban, Quezon. The Philippine screening of the 2021 AFI Programme is presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Manila under its initiative to foster creative development, exchange of ideas, and curatorial discourse to a wider audience.
The next shows are scheduled on the remaining Tuesdays and Wednesdays of the month. It will also be on view today, Dec. 7 and 8. Shows run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All screenings are free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.mcadmanila.org.ph/aficare/.
