Kontra-Agos

Festival trailer

2008-11-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Kontra Agos Filmmakers go to Rotterdam!

2008-01-30T01:03:00.000-08:00

Waise Azimi, Khavn de la Cruz, and John Torres are a few of the Filipino filmmakers from the 2007 Kontra Agos Film Festival who are attending the 37th International Film Festival Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Read the article on the Philippine Daily Inquirer about these and other Filipino filmmakers in Rotterdam.

Projekt Desap: A Photo Project on the Lives of the Families of Desaparecidos

2007-11-25T03:21:00.000-08:00

A photograph is regarded as a powerful tool for communicating ideas in a way that a written or oral account cannot. A photograph is not hindered by language, nor does it expect its viewers to be educated or literate. The language that a photograph speaks can be understood by anybody.

It is with the acknowledgment of this power that we deemed it appropriate to use photographs as a tool for human rights advocacy. We intend to contribute to the continuing effort of sustaining and heightening public awareness and consciousness on the issue of enforced disappearances. By mounting a photo exhibit, we also intend to give a human face to the stories and struggles of the families of the disappeared (desaparecidos). We strongly believe that we can reach out to more people by telling their stories through images.

This initiative is part of a growing Artists Response against the human rights abuses of the Arroyo administration. Parallel efforts are currently being undertaken by independent and mainstream filmmakers, poets, artists and musicians. All these initiatives will culminate in a Human Rights Festival on Human Rights Day, December 10.

SURFACING, the photographers' initiative is headed by a small working group of student photographers with advice from professional photojournalists and in coordination with the Free Jonas Burgos Movement (FJBM). FJBM is a loose network of individuals seeking for the surfacing and release of Jonas Burgos, who was abducted last April, by suspected military operatives. It also speaks against human rights abuses, in particular, of other enforced disappearances of activists in the country.

* PROJEKT DESAP can be seen at Kontra Agos from the 6th to the 9th of December.

Opening Film: Walai

2007-11-24T21:01:00.000-08:00

Directed By
Adjani Arumpac

Synospis
Walai is an exploration of spaces. It prods on the memories of four Muslim women who once lived in the infamous White House in Cotabato City. The documentary seeks narratives in “places...we tend to feel without history.” It traces the past through the women's experience of what has happened inside the wrecked home—nostalgia and fear, loss and love, and birth and death.

Papa 2 & Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence [Closing Films]

2007-11-21T00:31:00.000-08:00

Papa 2
Directed By: Gopal Menon

PAPA 2 was a notorious interrogation centre run by the Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir till 1996. Officially, over 2000 - unofficially, over 10,000 - people have disappeared from the Kashmir Valley over the past 15 years. Most of these are enforced disappearances. The film, "PAPA 2", documents the struggle of the mothers and wives of disappeared persons to trace their loved ones. It features interviews with the families of the affected people and also members of the Association of Parents of Disappeared People.

Screened at Film South Asia 2003, Katmandu; ivFest 2003, Trivandrum; Nottam 2002, Kerala; WSF 2004, Mumbai, The Netherlands Himalayas Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2004, SOAS, London, 2004. Invited to the Banff Mountain Film
Festival, Alberta, Canada.

Naga Story: The Other Side of Silence
Directed By: Gopal Menon

The Nagas are a 3 million-strong indigenous people who occupy the North-East frontier of the Indian subcontinent. The Naga political struggle is one of the oldest nationality movements in South Asia, continuing till present times. The film Naga Story provides an introduction to the history of the Naga struggle, and documents the human rights abuses suffered by the Naga people in more than 50 years of the existence of Independent India. Naga Story, which took 5 years to complete, is the first comprehensive film about the Naga struggle for identity, self-determination, peace, and justice.

Winner of the 'Spirit of the Himalayas' First Prize at The Netherlands Himalayas Film Festival, Amsterdam, 2004. Withdrawn from MIFF 2004 along with 6 other films as part of the Campaign Against Censorship by Indian filmmakers. Screened at the protest festival "Vikalp 2004", Mumbai. Invited to the Telluride Mountain Film Festival, Telluride, Colorado, USA, and the Banff Mountain Film Festival, Alberta, Canada, and Signs 2005, organised by Federation of Film Societies India, Kerala.

About the Director

Gopal Menon’s first film was a documentary on the destruction of tropical evergreen forests in the Nilgiri biosphere. He has worked with the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and documented the Naga and Kashmiri political movements. Menon has also made films on Dalit issues and the communal riots in Gujarat, and worked with Channel 4 on the issue of the funding of Hindu extremist organizations.

Ehem!plo

2007-11-21T00:17:00.000-08:00

Directed by: Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr

‘Lahat tayo ay nawawalan,’ says Heidi Mendoza, a conscientious auditor featured in this EheM!Plo video-documentary. ‘It is because of corruption that there is poverty,’ argues former Ombudsman Simeon
Marcelo. They are correct. Corruption ruins our democratic institutions – tempting many to be angry and hopeless.

Young people, like Melonie Maglia of Ifugao, are longing for leaders with conscience and competence, not public officials who, according to Fr. Vhong Navarro, invent projects for selfish interest. Mayor Jesse Robredo and Allen Reondanga of Naga City prove that good examples do exist. They employ I-governance and community participation in their struggle to uplift the condition of the Bicol region.

EheM!Plo shows that indeed corruption is violence. If this is trure, then stopping corruption and spreading
integrity are now the new ways of working for peace.

About the Director

Doy del Mundo has a doctoral degree in Communication Studies (Film) from the University of Iowa. He teaches at De La Salle University, Department of Communication, where he is a Full Professor and a University Fellow. He is also a screenwriter. His screenplay credits include Maynila… Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila… In the Claws of Light), ‘Merika, Mulanay, Aliwan Paradise (Entertainment Paradise), Markova, and Pepot Artista.

He is also a director in his own right. His film/video essays and documentaries include People Media, Maynila… Isang Pelikulang Pilipino (Maynila… A Filipino Film), Komiks, Lupa (Land), Pahiyas (or Exorcising the Ghosts of St. Louis), Maid in Singapore, and Ehem!plo (Corruption and Integrity in the Philippines). In 2005, he finished Pepot Artista which won Best Picture in the 1st Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Before the 2007 elections, he directed a 3-episode reality program, Vote4U.

His books include Native Resistance: Philippine Cinema and Colonialism 1898-1941, Rizal / Bayaning 3rd World: Dalawang Dulang Pampelikula (Two Screenplays), and Maynila…, ‘Merika, Alyas Raha Matanda: Tatlong Dulang Pampelikula (Three Screenplays). He has also written monographs on Philippine Cinema that were published in Fukuoka, Japan.

Sa Ngalan ng Tubo

2007-11-20T06:59:00.000-08:00

A film by Tudla Productions

A video documentary that chronicles what happened on November 16, 2004 when seven people died at the picketlines of the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. Millworkers and farm workers of the sugar refinery and plantation owned by the Cojuangcos, one of the wealthiest landed families in the Philippines, went on strike. Their demands were met with a volley of gunfire from military and police. Beginning with the history and background of the land issue, the film builds the tension gradually, leading up to the actual footage of the Hacienda Luisita incident, when even the filmmakerholding the camera had to run for his life.

About the Group

Tudla Productions (Tudla) is an alternative media group that produces video-documentaries on the plight and struggle of basic masses and on issues that bear national significance. Tudla aspires to amplify the voice of marginalized sectors in society and the burgeoning call for genuine social change and justice.

Sa Ngalan ng Tubo is among the early works of Tudla. The film was produced in 2005 in collaboration with the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) and Alyansa ng Mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (AMGL).

The Jihadist

2007-11-19T21:58:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Gutierrez Mangansakan II

The Jihadist is an autobiographical documentary on the filmmaker’s struggle as an artist amid the backdrop of the Moro revolution. His search for his rightful place in the memory of his homeland yields questions that require him to confront his identity as a Moro and come to terms with his homosexuality.

About the Director

Gutierrez Mangansakan II is a Moro writer and filmmaker from Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

The Threshold

2007-11-19T18:45:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Mikhail Red

Seeking the threshold, the wanderer endures a dark journey into the limits of the human mind where fears and anxieties are represented by a series of rooms he must go through.

A FILM ON THE HUMAN CONDITION

"I wanted to make a film about the essence of the human mind and soul, the core of being, where every emotion is explored. The film deals about the human condition, how we are trapped and detained within the complex cells within ourselves."

- Mikhail Red

Lunes ng Hapis [Mondays of Sorrow (English Title)]

2007-11-19T02:51:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Nick Olanka

Virgie and Ismael are lovers in the midst of a military offensive in Sta. Filomena, a town in Southern Luzon suspected of being overrun by rebels. Virgie is a teacher of a local elementary school and Ismael is a captain of the troop assigned to infiltrate the rebels. Every Monday they meet and make love passionately and violently. One day, Virgie's student Tikoy asks her to help find his missing father, Mang Lino, a rumoured rebel sympathizer. Events unfold and point to Ismael as being responsible for Mang Lino's disappearance, because of this Virgie is overwhelmed by guilt. The next Monday, as they make love Virgie chooses between her love for Ismael and her love for her community.

Biography of the Director

Born in 1982, Nick Joseph Olanka graduated in 2006 from the U.P. Film Institute. Active in the theater arts through the group The UP Repertory Company, he took cinematography classes in Mowelfund Film Institute. Currently training under Marilou Diaz-Abaya under Star Cinema's directors training program.

"Monday of Sorrow" is his graduation film. In July 2006, his first feature film "Ang Huling Araw ng Linggo" (The Last Sunday) competed in the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and will be in the theaters nationwide in the Philippines from March 28, 2007.

Hilo

2007-11-17T22:25:00.000-08:00

Directed By: JP V. Carpio

Originally conceptualized as a short film shot in 2004 and completed nearly three years later as a full length, the film charts the various emotional courses during a dinner between Emerson, a university professor, and Jenny, a university student.

The film also features the full length feature debuts of Jenny Logico and Emerson Sanchez.

Jan Philippe “JP” V. Carpio was born in Makati, Metro Manila and grew up in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

Returning to Metro Manila for higher education, he first took up B.S. Biology thinking then that he wanted to become a doctor. He eventually shifted and graduated with a degree in Organizational Communication from the University of the Philippines Manila in 2002.

During his stay in Metro Manila he gradually fell into writing and filmmaking. What was then something of interest and leisure, he now calls his “purposes here on Earth”. Largely a self-taught writer and filmmaker, he has also taken workshops under established Filipino film artists like Ricardo Lee and Peque Gallaga.

He has written and directed two feature length films shot on video.

The first in 2000, Girl of My Dreams, was made under the workshop module of the First Filipino Full Length Feature Festival facilitated by Edward Cabagnot of the Cultural Center of the Philippines Media Arts Division.

The second was Balay Dakû in 2002, the first ever full length Ilonggo feature film, produced through a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and donations from his family.

He is set to premiere several of his new films in 2007 including his third full length film HILO (thread).

Apart from a number of short films, his fourth full length film PALANGGA (the beloved) is currently in post production.

He recently completed his first documentary, the short entitled BUNKER 0: SUMIRIB PLUS, as part of a group of sixteen independent filmmakers invited by the ABC 5 television network and the newly formed Independent Filmmakers’ Cooperative to each shoot a 10 minute short film on the Guimaras Oil Spill Disaster.

Apart from his own films, he also does occasional documentation work of the performances of Dancing Wounded Contemporary Dance Commune.

HILO (thread) - the trailer

THIS IS A PREVIEW OF "PALANGGA" - scheduled for release in 2008/2009

Ang Bayan Kong Payapa

2007-11-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

This is the state of our nation cycle.

About the Director

Elvert de la Cruz Ba�ares is a filmmaker, curator and visual artist who has been making what he calls his "little films" for the past 15 years and has, by far, independently produced 43 short films using a variety of formats. A very underground filmmaker working outside mainstream and even indie industries, Elvert's films have been screened in underground and international film festivals in the United States, Australia, China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Canada.

He has curated first time Filipino programs for the 'Queerfest: Vancouver Gay & Lesbian Film Festival' and the 'Antimatter Underground Film & Video Festival' in Victoria, Canada. Twice he was sent as Philippine delegate to first time Filipino Film Festivals in Beijing and Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Elvert has been festival director and film programmer of 'eKsperim[E]nto Festival of Film, Video & New Media'; 'Chinese Film Festival'; 'The NCCA Film Club'; and the 'ASEAN Film Festival' (at the Podium).

His awards include the Gold Medal for Excellence in Scriptwriting for Radio, TV & Film awarded by the Media Arts Foundation; the 2nd Prize for 1987 Annual Art Association of the Philippines (AAP); and three (3) Gawad CCP for Independent Film & Video.

He has just finished (producing and directing) the latest music video for international artist, Swan Dive, and is currently finishing his full-length films, "Alipo-op Sa Animo" (Fog In The Consciousness) and "The Atomika Settlement: Devastation Canvas 5".

Elvert has been schooled at the Sta. Maria Catholic School (now, Ateneo de Iloilo), West Visayas State University, Institute for Arts & Cultural Management and the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). An Ilonggo by heart, he is currently based in Manila, Philippines.

Red Saga

2007-11-17T07:37:00.001-08:00

Directed By: Gabriela Krista Dalena

Children of the Land faithfully guard the last harvest from thieves. This poetic film offers a glimpse into the passion and pain of the people's protracted war in the countrysides.

Mindanao Short Films

2007-11-17T07:13:00.001-08:00

Me’guyaya
Documentary

Me’guyaya is a Te’duray term for merry-making or thanksgiving. In 2003, an active and concerned group of people in Upi, Shariff Kabunsuan initiated a festival that would unite all residents in thanking God for the abundant harvest. Since then, it has become a big town event that celebrates the richness and diversity of the Muslim, Christian and Lumad peoples of Upi.

The documentary delves on how the Me’guyaya serves as a catalyst for cultural unity as everyone gets involved in the festivities.

About the Director
Eduardo C. Vasquez, Jr., OMI is a Catholic Missionary priest who belongs to the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). He is presently assigned as the parish priest of the San Isidro Parish in Upi, Shariff Kabunsuan. He is the founder and the present director of the “I-watch Team” which produces short video documentaries advocating Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation. Fr. Vasquez has earned his Masteral Degree in Pastoral Ministry at the Loyola School of Theology in Ateneo de Manila University where he graduated Cum Laude. In 2003, he earned his diploma on Religious and Social Communication in CREC-AVEX, Ecully, France.

Tranquil Times
Documentary

The documentary delves on the good governance efforts of the private sector, civil society and the local government unit of Wao, Lanao del Sur working together to erase remnants of the religious and ethnic clashes of the 1970s. It explores how peace has been achieved in this multi-ethnic town, propelling the once-turbulent municipality into its present agricultural renaissance.

About the Director

Loren Hallilah I. Lao is an Instructor at the English Department and Communication Studies Program of Mindanao State University, Marawi City. A lawyer, she is also a Lecturer at the College of Law of the same University. At the same time, she writes fiction and dabbles in filmmaking.

George’s Town
Documentary

George Sabandal is one of about 2,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have sought refuge in the town of Buluan, Maguindanao as a result of the “all-out war” in 2000. Refusing to go back to the place of his origin, he has created a new life for himself and his family in their ideal town.

About the Director

Born in 1980, Moises Charles Hollite initially wanted to pursue a career in music. But having worked as production assistant in four documentaries changed that. Influenced by MTV, George’s Town is his first directorial film.

Sulu
Documentary

Born of a Muslim mother, young writer Arthur Sakaluran Abasalo decides to visit Sulu despite the perceived strife and presence of Muslim rebels and Abu Sayyaf terrorists. In Sulu, he meets a former Muslim rebel-turned policeman who tells him about his life story and how he got separated from his family for more than a decade. He returns to Sulu to start a new life after being reunited with his family.

Arthur returns to Manila after a short stay in Sulu, bringing with him memorable stories and truths about the island feared by many as a dangerous place to go.

About the Director

l Jacinto is a freelance journalist, a photographer and a budding independent filmmaker. He co-produced a 10-minute documentary-MTV on the poverty situation in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines entitled Pobreza en Zamboanga. And made a full-length film entitled Sultan in Mindanao and several short photo-documentaries about poverty since 2006.

Sulu - the trailer

Biniton
Feature

A story depicting the process of preparation and cooking of a dish called Biniton that is particular to the community of Saniag, Ampatuan. The process of cooking, in the eyes of an old woman, brings to life the hardships they experienced amidst armed conflict at the same time the process of preparation, through the experience of Amel, her grandson walks us through the current situation of their community. How amidst the hardships and diversity in culture they had all managed to bounce back and become united.

About the Director

24-year-old McRobert Nacario has worked in various documentaries and feature films. His keen eye for detail is evident in his works making his films a sumptuous visual feast.

A Step for My Dream
Feature

Seven-year-old Abdul dreams of becoming a leader of his town. He has natural charisma and easily becomes friends with people even if he hasn’t known them for long. But his grandmother reminds him of their peasant roots which is no match to the traditional ruling family. Undaunted, Abdul sees it as a challenge envisions his future.

About the Director

A computer engineering graduate, Mona Labado was gravitated to the world of cinema when they were asked to make video projects in college. Together with her friends, she has made a few documentaries and short films. A Step for My Dream is her directorial debut.

Dreams
Feature

Nine-year-old Satra has been mute for as long as she could remember. But her determination to secure a good education reverberates clearly amid the strictures of her Yakan culture.

About the Director

Sheron Dayoc is a philosophy graduate of Ateneo de Zamboanga University. Trained at the UP Film Institute, he has produced several documentaries on the untold stories of marginal people and different tribes in Mindanao that has enriched both his personal and creative life.

Dreams - the trailer

Standing Up

2007-11-16T12:27:00.001-08:00

www.standingupthemovie.com
Directed By: Waise Azimi

STANDING UP is a feature length documentary young Afghan men training to become professional soldiers in the new Afghan National Army. Situated at the Kabul Military Training Center, Standing Up chronicles the struggles and lives of these Afghan men from the moment they arrive at the KMTC to the last day of training of their training. Extensive access to the KMTC training program has provided an insiders perspective into one of the most underreported and important stories in the War Against Terror, the story of those who are Standing Up to the first line of defense.

In June 2006 the documentary-maker Waise Azimi embedded at Camp Alamo, the Coalition partner-base to the KMTC. He spent four months with the men of Battalion 55 of the Afghan National Army and alongside US and Canadian soldiers from the Combat Arms and Collective Exercise Training sections of Training Assistance Group V. Previously, in 2003 Waise Azimi made Afghanistan After, a short film about how Afghan society had changed two years after the fall of the Taliban. Waise Azimi earned a degree in Sociology from Bard College in 2005, he currently lives in the capital of the Philippines, Metro Manila.

Standing Up - the trailer

Bingo

2007-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Noriel M. Jarito

Bingo reveals life’s monotony of rural existence. People embrace almost anything: dull, inspiring, tame, untamed, reputable, and even deceptive. Their horizon is bounded by beliefs which sometimes manage to mislead, mock, and misuse their fate. They surrender and never question the path they trace. Thus, they are lost. Submission is sweet, to do otherwise is bitter. Their incomprehension is at the maximum level that wrong becomes right, and what is right becomes wrong. To play “Bingo” inside a church is never questioned and is labeled licensed by some unprincipled Catholic Church leaders. Christianity is the largest religion and surely many of its followers are destitute enough to consider “Bingo” inside their church as a source of momentary abundance.

Bingo reveals all: People are born. People are being baptized. People marry. People die. All these should have been valuable and symbolic, yet have gone awry and worthless instead. Why? Because of people’s shallowness and ignorance.

Bingo - the trailer

Unconventional Warfare

2007-11-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Anna Isabelle Matutina and Herbert Docena

This documentary contextualizes the issue of US military presence in the country within the long and bitter history of conflict in the south. Countering the reductionist frame set by the narrative of the “global war against terror,” it examines the historical conditions that led to the emergence of the Moro separatist movement and the subsequent rise of the Abu Sayyaf. It dissects the government’s contradictory attempts to downplay its threat while at the same time justifying escalating military operations in the region.

Against this backdrop, the documentary then probes allegations of US military involvement in the war.

The Singh Family Home Videos

2007-11-16T07:43:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Emmanuel A. Dela Cruz

A documentary work in progress, "The Singh Family Home Videos" charts an intimate look at the family life of the filmmaker's neighbors, a Punjabi Indian family who has assimilated into the Filipino culture and community. Is nationality a matter of origin? Is identity a matter of choice? Or is your "home" a matter of where you are or where you'll be?

A fictional narrative feature based on this work, tentatively called "1434456" is slated to be produced in 2008 by the inependent film group, ufo Pictures("Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros," "Sarong Banggi" and "Endo") and is vying for a Cinemalaya subsidy.

About the Director

Emmanuel A. Dela Cruz was born in Aparri, Cagayan and fell in love with cinema at a young age as he grew up watching movies at double and triple-feature cinema houses in his home town. Film reels just happened to be delivered through the local PNR bus station, run by his parents which gave his family free passes to the movies. After dabbling in acting, writing and translating plays for several theatre companies including The UP Repertory Company (Santuwayro, Ama Namin, Oras Na, Seremonyas), Bulwagang Gantimpla(Manuk Buangsi, the musicale) and Dulang Talyer(Three Rats), he eventually pursued film studies at the University Of the Phillipines, reaping several awards from the Gawad CCP for his short student works: Pula sa Bughaw, Tatlong Lamok and She: Dalagang Pilipina and winning awards for his writing, namely: 2nd prize for his first feature-length screenplay “Pain sa Dilim” from the FDFPI in 1995 and one of the five best Stories for Film in the recent FAP Scriptwriting Awards, 2005 for his film story "Sa Diddib ng mga Alon."

Working for local TV stations like ABC 5, GMA 7 and ABS-CBN has given him the opportunity to work on several show formats(talk, public service, youth dramas, music videos and teleseryes) as creator, writer, segment producer, director and creative consultant. Among these breakthrough programs are: Pangako Sa `Yo, Tabing-ilog and Martin Late @ Night. Recently directed for the multi-part pre-election primer Philippine Agenda with GMA news and Public Affairs and fro the said station's year-end special for 2007: Ingay ng Bayan.

His near decade-long stint in Star Cinema where he rose from the creative pool to being a Creative Consultant to the Core Group of the movie company and a Creative Project Head gave him a chance to make a contribution to some of the company’s biggest hits: Tanging-Ina, Isusumbong Kita sa Tatay ko, Milan and D' Anothers. Aside from earning credits for his stories in several hit films: Kailangan Kita, Kung Ako na Lang Sana and My 1st Romance. Likewise, he's currently heading the creative teams of three ongoing movie projects of the company slated for 2007-2008 releases most notably fellow ufo colleague Jade Castro's sophomore film Big Love after the success of Endo, ufo Pictures 3rd feature(Cinemalaya 2007 Jury Prize, In Competition in Nates, France) he helped produce.

Having written, directed and co-produced his first feature-length digital work “Sarong Banggi”(winning an URIAN Best Actress for Jaclyn Jose, an Audience Prize Best Actress, Phuket film fest and a Breakthrough Performance by an Actor by the Entertainment Press's 3rd Golden Screen Awards for new comer Angelo Ilagan, Official Selection- ImaginAsian Theatre, New York, CineAsia, Barcelona and to the first Phuket International Film Festival, October 2007) under the Cinemalaya Grant, he is currently pursuing both his mainstream and independently-inclined movie projects. Under the helm of ufo Pictures (producers of “Sarong Banggi,” and the Cinemalaya Jury Prize-winners Endo (Cinemalaya 2007), and the internationally acclaimed “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”) an independent production group he put up with Raymond Lee(writer of Anak, Tanging Yaman, Kailangan Kita and Milan) and their like-minded screenwriter friends from the industry: Michiko Yamamoto(of Magnifico fame), Ned Trespeces (Jologs) and Jade Castro (Endo, `D Anothers, First Day High), they hope to produce story-driven and material-oriented movies for their company and the rest of the independent and mainstrean film community.

As the founding chairperson and a board member of the Independent Filmmakers' Cooperative of the Philippines (IFC), he has spearheaded the launch of INDIE SINE, the first independently-run theatre in the country launched last January 16, 2007 in Robinson's Galeria cinema 8 and which has continually supported inedependent theatrical releases and continues to break new ground in alternative independent dictribution. Recently passing the reins to the new IFC Chairperson Doy Del Mundo, the cooperative has doubled its membership and has set to reinvigorate the scene together with its partner embassies, institutions and private funders.

He continues to produce independent works (Imagining Edsa for IMAHE NASYON - Official Selection for the 20th Singapore International Film Festival) and for film advocacies (SPILL for an omnibus film exposing the Guimaras oil spill disaster of 2006). He also recently completed his undergraduate production thesis – Gabon(Cloud) awarded Best Direction for the shorts category of the recently concluded Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Festival 2007 and nominated for Best Short Film by the Gawad URIAN. Gabon had the distinction of being part of the launch of UPFI Cine Adarna's Friday Film Bar this August, and was screened together with Lamberto Avellana's epic film“Badjao.”

He has completed a 40-min. documentary “The Singh Family Home Videos,” an intimate look at the family life of his neighbors, an Indian family who has assimilated into the Filipino culture and community. This has further inspired him to deepen his understanding of the cross-cultural experience by envisioning a fictional narrative based on this film, called "14334456: The Singalong Singhs" vying for another Cinemalaya grant.

Together with Raymond Lee and under ufo pictures, he is currently in production of a feature-length documentary Queen B about the life and passions of famous Filipina model turned philanthropist Bessie Badilla which will partly be shot and culminate in Brazil's Mardi Gras Carnival in 2008.

He is hopeful the the new wave of Pinoy independent filmmaking will give rise to a more “meaningful, dynamic and thought-provoking” visions that focuses on the human experience/realities either past or current.

Voice, Tilted Screens

2007-11-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

Directed By: John Torres

Voice, Tilted Screens is, at once, a meditation. It is a meta-film that unravels a journey, a chronicle of stories through foreign regions. It is a probing letter from outside circles, an honest account of illegitimate views from uneven terrain, and a narrative-driven exploration of the nooks and peripheries of the body, geography, and weather. As the journey progresses, the film increasingly traverses the countries of revelation, film, and heart to where all journeys are meant to end with.

Binyag

2007-11-16T07:25:00.001-08:00

Simula

2007-11-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Directed By: Ruelo Lozendo

A worm enters a man’s ear and lives inside his body. As the worm’s metamorphosis unfolds, the man experiences his own transformation.

Ruelo lives and works as a filmmaker in Manila, collaborating with artists from different disciplines, such as contemporary dance and music. He started out as cinematographer / editor in a number of film and TV productions. He received a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and was a finalist of the Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival 2006.

His works have been exhibited in the USA, Singapore and other countries

Putot

2007-11-14T23:07:00.000-08:00

A Few Good Words On Resistance Cinema

2007-11-14T23:03:00.000-08:00

[...] there is an alternative to industry-made cinema that is more in touch with the practical and spiritual lives of individuals, whether these lies are documented by committed filmmakers or expressed in abstract or psychodramatic imagery.

[...] film going was more than a process of experiencing, over and over, the particular codes of commercial genre film, or worshiping the physical beauty or the dramatic ability of the stars; it was a means of getting in touch with the immense and fascinating variety in the way people live and with the myriad ways in which individuals express their inner struggles.

Amos Vogel

When viewers are faced with forms of film that cause them to wonder, "is this a movie?" they have the opportunity to recontextualize their previous film going experiences and expand their understanding of what film and film history is, has been, and can be. The inevitable conventionality of the popular cinema – "inevitable" because without established conventions, movies cannot be popular enough to return a profit on the financial investments necessary to produce them --- continually re-creates an audience with a set of predictable expectations and, therefore, with a considerable potential for surprise. If the achievement of the American film industry has been its ability to maintain its economic viability for nearly a century bycontinually reenergizing a narrow range of film going pleasure, the achievement of the critical cinema, which has been evolving at the margins of the popular cinema, has been the continual proliferation of critical film forms ---that is, forms of cinema capable of surprising viewers and catalyzing critique---by filmmakers with limited economic means. Indeed, this proliferation has been so extensive that even naming it has been an endless cause for debate: what I am calling "critical cinema" includes"avant-garde cinema," "revolutionary film," "poetic film," "film as art," "the New American Cinema," "film as subversive art," expanded cinema," "alternative cinema," "visionary film," structural film," "punk film," "trash film," "experimental film," "abstract film," "the new narrative," "materialist cinema," independent film," "third cinema," "transnational cinema," and "queer cinema."

Scott Macdonald, Introduction to A Critical Cinema

Festival Schedule

2007-10-26T18:28:00.000-07:00

The festival schedule is also available on