Filipino films get share of spotlight at Singapore film festival

October 26, 2018 - 2:43 PM
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Bea Alonzo in Eerie
Bea Alonzo in "Eerie", which is set to make its world premiere at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival in November 2018 (SGIFF/press release)

Select works from some of the Philippines’ top filmmakers will be sharing the spotlight at the 29th Singapore International Film Festival this November.

The annual showcase of the best of Singaporean cinema that will run from November 29 to December 9 will be playing tribute to 100 years of Philippine Cinema.

Filipino filmmaker Shireen Seno will be part of a panel of the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition Jury to showcase her second feature “Nervous Translation,” Rotterdam 2018 NETPAC award for best Asian film.

There are also four entries in the short film competition: “Manila is Full of Men Named Boy” by Andrew Stephen Lee; “The Imminent Immanent” by Carlo Francisco Manatad; “Please Stop Talking” by Josef Gacutan and “Judgement” by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez.

The festival’s Asian Vision segment will feature two films from the Philippines’ contemporary top talents: “Season of the Devil” by Lav Diaz and “The Ashes and Ghosts of Tayug 1931” by Christopher Gozum.

The long-awaited feature from up-and-coming independent filmmaker Mikhail Red “Eerie” will make its world premiere as the SGIFF’s Special Presentation.

The much-awaited horror flick from the director of the critically-acclaimed “Birdshot” and “Rekorder” will star some big names, including Bea Alonzo, Charo Santos-Concio, Maxene Magalona and Jake Cuenca.

Founded in 1987, the Singapore International Film Festival showcases the best of the Lion City’s cinema as well as talents from around Asia, especially the Southeast Asian region. It has evolved through the years to become one of critics’ most well-regarded platforms for the promotion of Asian cinema.

Some of Philippine cinema’s most-celebrated works from recent years such as Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s “In the Navel of the Sea,” Brilliante Mendoza’s “Slingshot,” and Lav Diaz’ “Batang West Side” have been featured by the festival in the past.