The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival gathers the winning films from various local film festivals as part of its 14th edition showcase.
Catch The Eternity Between Seconds by Alec Figuracion, a winning entry at the Cine Filipino, bringing home Best Director, Editing, Cinematography, and Sound Design awards.
Starring TJ Trinidad and Yeng Constantino, the drama film tells about two strangers who meet in Korea and form an intimate relationship as they bond over their loneliness, conversations and neuroses. This is a story about finding comfort in strangers, fleeting connections and moments that are never meant to last.
A Cinema One Originals entry, Paki (Please Care) by Giancarlo Abrahan is a drama-comedy film about 69-year-old Alejandra who is fed up with her husband’s womanizing ways and decides to leave him after 50 years of marriage and living under the same roof. She turns to her three grown-up daughters for support, but none of her offspring seems to endorse her drastic decision.
The film stars Dexter Doria, Noel Trinidad, Shamaine Buencamino, Eula Valdes, Ricky Davao, Cielo Aquino, Ina Feleo, Paolo Paraiso, Miguel Valdes, Sari Estrada, Dravin Angeles, Sunshine Teodoro, and Thea Yrastorza.
The film also won Best Screenplay for Giancarlo Abrahan, Best Director (shared with Dan Villegas) and Best Supporting Actor for Ricky Davao in the Cinema One Originals.
Based on three-act play A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino by National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, with libretto by National Artist Rolando Tinio, Ang Larawan by Loy Arcenas is screening during the Cinemalaya run.
Set in pre-World War II Manila, spinster sisters Candida and Paula are gifted with a bewildering portrait by their father Don Lorenzo, a renowned but recluse painter.
The sisters, however, reject the attention the portrait receives until sly vaudeville piano player Tony tells them that he knows an American who is willing to buy it for a high price. Tired of being poor, Candida schemes to sell the portrait with naive Paula as bait.
The musical features Rachel Alejandro, Joanna Ampil, Paolo Avelino, Nonie Buencamino, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Robert Arevalo, Celeste Legaspi, Sandino Martin, Cris Villonco, and Aicelle Santos. It won Best Actress for Joanna Ampil, Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, Best Production Design, and Best Musical Score at the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival.
From the Sinag Maynila comes Tale of the Lost Boys by Joselito Altarejos. The film received Best Screenplay, Best Editing and the Box Office Awards.
The film centers on the friendship between two men — Alex (Oliver Aquino), a Filipino mechanic, and Jerry (Ta Su), a Taiwanese aborigine student. The two meet randomly when Alex flees to Taipei from Manila, upon learning that his girlfriend is pregnant.
A casual conversation develops into a surprising personal connection between them. Both realize that they yearn for a more intimate connection with their mothers. The two men go on a road trip and end up at Jerry’s tribe. The trip eventually makes them reconnect with their mothers and both discover a certain sense of identity and freedom.
Actors Oliver Aquino, Ta Su, Kristel Romero, Abai Bashang, Mona Hayung, Joe Black, Lex Bonife, Tiffany Tsai, and Nataleigh Sitoy bring the story to life.
For more information, visit www.cinemalaya.org or www.culturalcenter.gov.ph. You may also call CCP Media Arts at 832-1125 local 1704 to 1705 and the CCP Box Office at 832-3704.