CINEMA ONE ORIGINALS FESTIVAL @ SM!

I normally, no longer post about events in this blog unless it is advocacy/social development related or unless it's a FILM FESTIVAL!!! HAHHAHAHAHAHA! This time around it's a combination of Filipino and Cebuano+Mindanaoan Films. The trailers I've seen so far are really neat and I'm very much excited for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (you can't have 2 much exclamations)
The last pure visayan movie I watched was Sangtuaryo (which was set in Bantayan Island and was about the life there and also about environmental protection in the changing times of Modernity). For this one, I'm primarily interested in the Film of my good friend/Co-blogger/fashionista/Award-winning~Actress/Director? Miss Chic-in-the-tropics-dot-com~Eden and also the awesome [based from the trailers] My Paranormal Romance!!! Also I got intrigued with that Philippine-Setting-Zombie-Film :3.

After filmmaker Remton Siega Zuasola bagged international recognitions for his film “Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria,” it’s now the time for his fellow Cebuanos to celebrate filmmaking excellence via the Cinema One Originals Festival in Cebu City this February 11 to 16, at the SM City Cebu Cinema 8.

 
Among the films to be shown in the South installment of the festival are Cebuano-made “Di Ingon ‘Nato [Not Like Us],” “My Paranormal Romance,” “Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria” and “Confessional.” Mindanaoan film “Imburnal,” which is also in Visayan dialect, is in this powerful  lineup.

   
Also featured in the filmfest are titles that recently bagged awards in the 2011 Cinema One Originals Festival such as “Ka Oryang,” “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay,” “Mga Anino Sa Tanghaling Tapat,” “Cartas de la Soledad,” “Sa Kanto Ng Ulap at Lupa,” “Sa Ilalim ng Tulay,” and “Big Boy.”

Me+Eden+Director-Remton {if i'm not mistaken?}

Stars of the 7^th Cinema One Originals films like the festival’s Best Actress Lilia Cuntapay, Mercedes Cabral, Franco Reyes, Phoebe Kaye Fernandez, Paul Jake Castillo, Publio Briones III, Van Roxas and others will grace this big event. Of course, award-winning filmmakers such as Sari Dalena of “Ka Oryang” and Antoinette Jadaone, together with some Cebuano filmmakers and actors will also be there. 

Recently, “Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria” recently took home two awards at the Jogja-Netpac Asian Film Festival in Indonesia such as Golden Hanoman (for best Asian feature film) and Geber (given by the Indonesian film communities). ” It also won the Special Jury prize in the 12^th Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea. In the local scene, the Cebuano-made film was also a big winner in the 34^th Gawad Urian—bagging the most coveted Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography (by Christian Linaban) and Best Music (by Jerrold Tarog)—and was hailed Best Picture in the Cinemanila 2010 (Southeast Asian Category).

“Brave, bold and original,” goes the description on the featured films. The talents are also a mix of flag bearers and an emerging new breed. See below for the Cinema One Film Fest Movie Schedules here in Cebu:


-Feb 11, Saturday
6:30 PM Opening Cocktails/Ceremonies
8:15 PM Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria
-Feb 12, Sunday
11:00 AM Imburnal 
3:00 PM Sa Ilalim Ng Tulay
5:00 PM Confessional
7:00 PM Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria 
9:00 PM Di Ingon 'Nato
-Feb 13, Monday
12:00 PM Layang Bilanggo 
2:25 PM Ishmael
4:50 PM Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria
7:10 PM Anatomiya Ng Korupsiyon
9:30 PM Six Degrees Of Separation From Lilia Cuntapay
-Feb 14, Tuesday
12:00 PM Sa Kanto Ng Ulap At Lupa 
2:15 PM Cartas De La Soledad
4:50 PM Anatomiya Ng Korupsiyon
7:10 PM Di Ingon 'Nato 
9:30 PM My Paranormal Romance 
-Feb 15, Wednesday
12:00 PM Di Ingon 'Nato
2:25 PM Mga Anino Sa Tanghaling Tapat
4:50 PM Six Degrees Of Separation From Lilia Cuntapay 
7:10 PM My Paranormal Romance 
9:30 PM Ka Oryang 
-Feb 16, Thursday
12:00 PM Big Boy 
2:25 PM Ang Damgo Ni Eleuteria
4:50 PM My Paranormal Romance 
7:10 PM Ka Oryang
9:30 PM Di Ingon 'Nato

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SYNOPSES OF some FEATURED FILMS in the Cinema One Festival
ANG DAMGO NI ELEUTERIA

Directed by Remton Siega Zuasola

Terya, a simple island girl, is about to leave hom to marry a foreigner. On her long walk to the ferry that will take her to the airport, she mulls over the most important decision of her young life. The bizarre events of the Baliw-Baliw festival on Olango island parallel her state of mind.

Cast: Donna Isadora Gimeno, Gregg Tecson, Lucia Jeuzan, Fedwilyn Villarba, Daday Melgar, Viven Eniola

Writer: Remton Siega Zuasola with acknowledgements to Ma. Victoria Beltran. Producers: Beverly Tañedo, Jiji Borlasa. Cinematographer: Christian Linaban. Music: Jerrold Tarog.

BIG BOY

Directed by Shireen Seno

America has “liberated” the islands, and the Philippines has just been proclaimed a new republic. Every day at the crack of dawn, Father and Mother stretch Julio by pulling his limbs in opposite directions. He is made to drink a concoction believed to stimulate growth in children. Julio’s remarkable height is used to advertise this growth concoction. Meanwhile he grows distant and detached from his family, wandering around town while his parents are consumed by the success of the business.

Cast: Ian Lomongo, Pam Miras

Writer: Shireen Seno. Executive Producer: Ronald Arguelles.  Director: Shireen Seno. Producer: John Torres. Creative Consultant: Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Directors of Photography: Gym Lumbera, Shireen Seno. Editor: Shireen Seno. Production Designer: Niki de los Reyes Torres. Art Director: Timmy Harn. Costume Designer: Anna Vecin, Jacyn Esquillon. Gaffers: Tristan Salas, Dan Benosa Cuanico. Set Dresser: Wilbert Doctolero. Production Assistant: Che Villanueva. Videographer: Tristan Salas, Dan Benosa Cuanico. Stills Photographer: Jacyn Esquillon, Gym Lumbera. Assistant Director: Gym Lumbera, John Torres.

CARTAS DE LA SOLEDAD

Directed by Gutierrez Mangansakan II

Rashid Ali returns to his Maguindanao hometown after studying and working for more than 25 years in Barcelona, Spain. He dreams of using what he learned in Europe to improve the lives of his people. But nothing has changed since he left. Politicians remain corrupt, poverty is widespread, his people desperate. 

Frustrated, Rashid retreats to a decrepit family house far from town with Racma, the housemaid, as his only companion. Their only connection to the world is Andal the family servant and Anuk the postman. In his seclusion Rashid writes letters to himself detailing the affairs of his day, combining his own experience and his opinion of the radio news everyday. These letters written in Spanish are his remaining connection to the Barcelona of his youth. The act of writing becomes a refuge until an imminent war threatens his serenity.

Cast: Perry Dizon, Mayka Lintongan, Alexis Libres, Ma. Victoria Beltran, Rashid Alvarez, Bein Ali Unayan.

Writer, Line Producer, Production Designer and Editor: Gutierrez Mangansakan II.Executive Producer: Ronald Arguelles. Creative Consultant: Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Directors of Photography: Gutierrez Mangansakan II, McRobert Nacario, John Barredo. Assistant Director: Meriam Faith Palma. Production Manager: Elreen Bendisula. Art Director: Moises Charles Hollite.

CONFESSIONAL

Directed by Jerrold Tarog, Ruel Antipuesto

“Confessional is the Blair Witch Project of political thrillers. Made with a grant of $23,000, the coarse production quality is not a style statement like some independent digital films but instead integral to the plot. It lures the audience into a forest of moral conundrums and ends with a twist that chills to the bone.

“Shot like a home movie, it pretends to be real while undermining the very idea of verisimilitude by having narrator Ryan (Jerrold Tarog) give a demo on how to doctor a wedding video to make it more touching.

“The directors are dyed-in-the-wool cynics who don’t flinch from showing the unsavory aspects of their people. Yet they are shrewd enough to employ commercial filmmaking techniques to make their critique accessible. Their sense of humor makes the underlying political message more even hard-hitting.” --Maggie Lee, Pusan International Film Festival

Cast: Jerrold Tarog, Arodasi.

Screenwriter: Ramon Ukit. Executive Producer: Ruel Antipuesto. Producer: Ronald Arguelles. Director of Photography: Ruel Antipuesto. Music: Jerrold Tarog, Arodasi. Editor: Pats r. Ranyo. Costumes: Donna Gimeno.

DI INGON ‘NATO

Directed by Brandon Relucio and Ivan Zaldarriaga

In a remote mountain village in Cebu, Philippines, a farmer will commit murder, a young doctor will lose her first patient, and a barangay captain will find a girl brutally murdered in a cemetery. 

The entire community is drawn into the mystery, and they will have to rely on each other to survive. It’s one thing to deal with the deaths of loved ones, but how should they react when these same loved ones return?

Cast: Rez Cortez, Franco Reyes, Mercedes Cabral, Donna Gimeno, Gabriel Abanto, Jefrey Ogario, Gregg Tecson 

Marlon Douglas Hofer, Bernard Catindig, Aya Ng, Lito Cardeño, Daday Melgar, Ria Araneta, Nathaniel Rubio, Cara Muaña Rosende 

Executive Producer: Ronald Arguelles. Writers: Brandon Relucio and Ivan Zaldarriaga. Executive Producer: Ronald Arguelles. Producers: Beverly Tañedo and Jiji Borlasa. Associate Producers: Chantel Garcia and Donna Gimeno. Cinematographer: Christian Linaban. Production Designer: Remton Siega Zuasola. Art Director: Zalde Lapiña. Assistant Director: Grace Lina. Editors: Brandon Relucio, Ivan Zaldarriaga, Christian Linaban. Visual Effects Supervisor: Philip Muaña. Sound Engineers: Vanya Fantonial, James D'Lonsod. Make Up Artists: Klaudia, Amuer Butron. Creative Consultant: Sherad Anthony Sanchez.

IMBURNAL

Directed by Sherad Anthony Sanchez

“A controversial digital exploration of coming of age in the slums of Davao City in the Philippines. Two boys, Rabay and Allen, live in sewers and cemeteries surviving through petty crime. Sanchez captures an intimate, anti-narrative world of experience, sex, and conversation framed by wandering through the landscape of the glittering city. But poverty and alienation in Davao are also framed by violence – disappearances and death squads who seek to clean the city of its juvenile delinquients. A raw, complex, compelling work exploring the slums without the Hollywood/Bollywood gloss of Slumdog Millionaire’s happy ending.” – Hong Kong International Film Festival

“… The absolute highlight of JIFF, and the deserving winner of both the International Competition’s Woosuk Award and the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award, was Philippine director Sherad Anthony Sanchez’s 215-minute digital experimental epic Imburnal. Though epically conceived, Imburnal refuses to be narratively “well-behaved.” Sanchez distends and hammers his images to the point of incomprehension, but they always sing, reverberating with the unformed, fearful beauty of youth.” – Shelly Kraicer, Cinema Scope

Cast: Jelieta Mariveles Ruca, Joel San Juan, Allen Lumanog.

Directors of Photography: Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Joel geolamen, Mark Limbaga, Jose Bagane Fiola, John Torres. Production Manager: Sherad Anthony Sanchez, Jelieta Mariveles-Ruca. Production Designer: Joel Geolamen. Editor: Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Art Director: Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Sound Designer: John Barredo. Music Composer: Eric Gancio. Shot in Matina Aplaya, Davao City.

ISHMAEL

Directed by Richard V. Somes

Ishmael is released on parole after 12 years in prison for murder. His dream of rebuilding his life is shaken when a mysterious girl turns up in his front yard, seeking his help. He tries to stay away from trouble, but slowly discovers that his once-peaceful hometown is no longer a safe haven.

Cast: Ronnie Lazaro, Mark Gil, Ria Garcia, Pen Medina, Dan Alvaro.

Line Producers: Riza Montelibano and Barbara Montelibano. Cinematographers: J.A. Tadena, Louie Quirino, Herman Claraval, Alex Espartero. Production Designer: Adrian Torres. Art Directors: Elmer Gamila and Charles Albert Alabado. Production Manager: Darry dela Cruz.

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Support our local artists: me + Phoebe Kaye Fernandez [ABS-CBN MAGTV NA! Host!] SUPPORTx5 My Paranormal Romance!!!

Cebuanos should support the Cinema One Originals Festival in Cebu because it truly celebrates the artistry and creativity of young Cebuano film talents.

On a side note: Should I change my hair style? or get a new one? Wondered about it for a week na and Kay na-WARLA pud kos 'SIR' ni Ms.Phoebe...I feel old :3


Catch all of the films in the Cebu leg of the Cinema One Originals festival. These movies are produced and owned by Cinema One cable channel and the Creative Programs, Inc. For more info, log on to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cinema-One-Originals/

Photo Credits: Jaysee