There’s a pre-Valentine al fresco screening of the 1988 film “Cinema Paradiso” at MiraNila Heritage House on Feb. 5. The night of romance, nostalgia and artistry will be made more special by Alessio Benvenuti and Mariel Ilusorio on violin and piano, respectively. The concert and film start at 6:30 p.m. on MiraNila’s front lawn. House tours...
Tag: film
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‘Quezon’ and the politics of memory: How cinema rewrites history
There’s something unsettling about how “Quezon” forces us to look again at a man we thought we knew. The film doesn’t simply replay a chapter of history—it rebuilds it. And that’s where the argument begins: depiction, not duplication. Cinema is not a mirror of the past but a creative act of cultural production, one that...
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Art imitates life in Cinemalaya 2025’s hard-hitting indies
By putting a premium on thematic pertinence over pomp, formula and pageantry, the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival has continually asserted its place as the country’s preeminent indie showcase since 2005. It explores stories that are deemed too risky for mainstream audiences and espouses perspectives that champion the weak, oppressed and marginalized. These indies operate...
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Hiligaynon short film ‘Hasang’: A surreal, indigenous view of global warming
ILOILO CITY – The art of filmmaking goes beyond mere entertainment. Creativity fuels passion, but it also allows the filmmaker to express the truth about the society that the viewers are a part of. For 24-year-old Daniel dela Cruz, the director of the award-winning short film “Hasang (Gills),” this meant going back to the roots...
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Storytelling, design, and government initiatives: How are the Korean and Philippine film industries different?
South Korea’s film industry seems to be doing well looking in from the outside. According to data from the Korean Film Council (Kofic) on 2024 local box office hits, “Exhuma” was No. 1 with a total gross of $82,686,501 (11,914,785 tickets sold); “The Round-up: Punishment” was No. 2 with a total gross of $82,674,629 (11,...
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Joey Reyes on PH’s Oscar chances, restoring film classics, and corruption in gov’t
We had high hopes for the beleaguered local film industry after the Metro Manila Film Festival’s (MMFF) sumptuous cinematic buffet last December and the CinePanalo competition in March. But in the five months that followed the MMFF, big-screen duds (like “Ex Ex Lovers,” “Everything About My Wife”) quickly outnumbered small cinematic gems like Derick Cabrido’s...
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Viola Davis packs a mean punch as a crime-busting US president
Long before Hollywood actress Viola Davis turned the quasihistorical 2022 film “The Woman King” into a No. 1 blockbuster, she was already looking for “Die Hard”-channeling action heroines to portray onscreen. In a statement released last week, Davis recalled meeting with the filmmakers behind “G20” for the first time in 2016. Helmed by Patricia Riggen,...
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‘Isang Himala’: adapting an adaptation
Let’s be clear about this. “Isang Himala,” an entry in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival, is not a remake of the original film in 1982. It is a film reimagination of the theater musical first staged in 2003 which was based on the film. An adaptation of an adaptation. If there are crossover artists, Ricky...
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The business of the Metro Manila Film Festival
The Metro Manila Film Festival is now 50 years old, and my memories rush in. When I was a young movie fan in grade school, I considered its precursor, the Manila Film Festival (MFF), a grand fiesta of Filipino films. I anticipated the event, reading about it in the weekly Manila publications Philippines Free Press,...
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Thoughts on the 20th Cinemalaya
The 2024 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival isn’t over yet. It concluded its official annual run last Aug. 11 at Ayala Malls Manila Bay and other cinemas, but there are still screenings reserved for some post-event schedules. And there are still thoughts left unsaid. Classified by a film buff as “The Best of Cinemalaya at...