A Closer Look at Cinemalaya’s 9 Full-length Films in Competition

Taken from last year's Cinemalaya. (TJPh Photo)

I STILL remember my first time seeing a Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) during my last year in college. Our social studies professor made our class watch and I’m forever grateful he did.

More than the film (I’m actually not sure what film it was that we watched anymore), it was really the CCP, where the fesitval has been founded in 2005 and staged annually since them, that captivated me and made a lasting impression.

Then, I graduated and started working for the Philippines’ oldest newspaper. Fortunately, my work as lifestyle and entertainment reporter had me covering the and wrting about Cinemalaya for five consecutive years.

So even after I left The Manila Times last year, I still made sure that I got to see its films in competition.

I just couldn’t remove Cinemalaya in my system anymore because it shaped my better understanding and appreciation of Pelikulang Pilipino—away from mainstream cinema (although I am now watching “maindies” as well).

“Cinemalaya has continued to discover, encourage and support the cinematic works of upcoming and veteran Filipino filmmakers who boldly articulate and freely interpret the Philippine experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity,” a press statement from the CCP reads.

This 2017, Cinemalaya marks its 13th edition from August 4 to 13 and I am excited. Themed “See the Big Picture,” it will have nine full-length films, and for the first time in its history, 12 shorts films (from the usual 10).

Before Cinemalaya opens, let’s first take a closer look at the full-length entries:

Ang Pamilyang Hindi Lumuluha (The Family that Doesn't Weep)

Sharon Cuneta stars in a Cinemalaya film for the first time ever in this film by Mes de Guzman. She portrays Cora who is searching for the “the family that doesn’t weep.” People believe the family has the superpower to bring back lost loved ones. Utilizing all her resources, time and wealth, Cora is desperate to complete her broken family at all costs.

Baconaua

In a sleepy island village in Southern Tagalog lives a young lass, Divina (Elora Españo), who mulls whether to have her father officially declared dead after missing at sea three months ago amidst the mysticism and realities happening around her. The film is directed by Joseph Israel Laban.

Bagahe (The Baggage)

Zig Dulay’s entry explores the life of an overseas Filipino worker named Mercy (Angeli Bayani), who is suspected of abandoning a newborn child in a trash bin of an airplane toilet. The film shows what happens to her while being investigated.

Ang Guro Kong Di Marunong Magbasa (My Teacher Who Doesn’t Know How To Read)

Directed by Perry Escaño, the film is set in a barrio in southwestern Mindanao. It tells about a young farmer (Alfred Vargas) who became the educator in their community even though he is illiterate. One day, he heads to the city and fails to return. His students then decide to join a rebel organization and learn to become skilled warriors.

Nabubulok (The Decaying)

In the film, Luna (Sue Prado) goes missing with her American husband Jason Harper (Billy Ray Gallion) being suspected of killing her. As Jason intends to leave the country, circumstances conspire to avert his plan. Directed by Sonny Calvento, it stars veteran actress Gina Alajar as Ingrid, Luna’s mother.

Kiko Boksingero

Thop Nazareno’s film tells the story of an 11-year-old boy (Noel Comia Jr.) who was was left alone with his nanny Diday after the death of his mother (Yayo Aguila). He then tries to reconnect with his estranged father George, a has-been boxer portrayed by Yul Servo. Filling the gap of the time lost, the father and son bonds through their shared love for boxing.

Requited

The entry directed by Nerissa Picadizo takes Matt (Jake Cuenca) in a journey to fulfill his ultimate goal of biking all the way from Manila to Mt. Pinatubo. This he does while defying his Parkinson’s Disease and the forces of nature, while encountering the woman (Anna Luna) he wants to be with along the way.

Respeto

In the film, Hendrix, played by Abra, dreams of becoming a rapper amidst the violence and poverty happening around him. But he needs to find the right words to penetrate the hiphop world through the help of seasoned poet Doc portrayed by Dido de la Paz. It is directed by Treb Monteras 2nd.  

Sa Gabing Nanahimik ang mga Kuliglig

Father Romy (Jake Macapagal) and altar boy Nonoy (Sam Quintana) find themselves in a predicament when they hear Magda’s (Angel Aquino) confessesion. She has committed murder after she discovering her husband’s adultery. Torn between following the Seal of the Confessional and finding a way to deliver justice, the two carry the weight of Magda’s sins. It is directed by Lionel Arondiang.

(SYNOPSIS AND PHOTOS COURTESY OF CCP)

VIRTUAL TOUR: A National Artist's Home at the Philippines' Arts Capital

THE municipality of Angono in Rizal is considered the Arts Capital of the Philippines, and as such, is home to many Filipino artists—young and old, living and departed, aspiring and flourishing.

 Among its long list of artists, Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1912-1969) remains to be the most celebrated painter. In 1973, he was posthumously named a National Artist, which is the highest honor the Philippine government bestows to Filipino artists.

“Carlos “Botong” Francisco, the poet of Angono, single-handedly revived the forgotten art of mural and remained its most distinguished practitioner for nearly three decades. In panels such as those that grace the City Hall of Manila, Francisco turned fragments of the historic past into vivid records of the legendary courage of the ancestors of his race,” writes the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the state institution that oversees the National Artist Award.

That is why when visiting the quaint and little Rizal town, it is a must to familiarize oneself with Botong Francisco, and enrich one’s knowledge on Philippine culture and arts.

Besides Botong Francisco, Angono's second National Artist, composer and musician
Lucio San Pedro also resided in Doña Aurora St. 

Doña Aurora St. in Barangay Poblacion Itaas is the best place to start because there, the Francisco residence still stands and now serves as museum and gallery. 

It is also called the Mural Street because the walls of the houses are sculpted with Francisco’s murals. According to Michael Blanco of the Blanco Family Museum, the concrete sculptures, made by Charlie Anorico, pay homage to Francisco. 

The street is also popularly known as the "Mural Street," because of sculpted versions of Francisco's mural. 

In its recent tour of Angono, Traveling Journo Ph visited the Francisco residence through the courtesy of the late National Artist’s grandson, Carlso "Totong" Francisco 2nd.

See a snippet of the life of Botong Francisco through this virtual tour:

This very space was Botong Francisco's studio where he mastered his craft. 

A different perspective of the studio. 

At the house's second floor hangs old photographs of the late National Artist. 

The citation that posthumously conferring the National Artist Award to Botong Francisco on June 12, 1973. 

The limited edition post stamp in celebration of Francisco's Birth Centennial in 2012 (right photo). The original National Artist Medal (left photo). 

Many of the artist's personal items are displayed in the residence including his old camera (he also had a knack for photography), old books, bags and shoes, and of course, his paintbrushes. 

Meet Carlos "Totong" Francisco 2nd, Botong's grandson who was the only one in the family
to follow his footsteps in visual arts.  

Totong told TJPh that he eventually broke away from the influence of his grandfather and Angono's realist genre in general. As result, he developed his personal abstract style.  

Some of his most recent works still to be framed and hung on the wall. 

"Burgeoning" (acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48, 2016)

The residence is also called "The Second Gallery" because it is where Totong mainly exhibits his artworks. 

Make sure to drop by the Francisco residence in your next trip to Angono! 

(TEXT AND PHOTOS ©EUDENVALDEZ)

RELATED STORY: 
More than just the Philippines' Art Capital

VIRTUAL TOUR: Inside Angono’s Blanco Family Museum

Virgin Labfest 2017 is back this month with biggest anthology

FOR over a decade, the Virgin Labfest of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has served as the experimental ground or laboratory—thus its name—of Filipino playwrights. Through the out-of-the-box festival, they are able to showcase their “unpublished, unstaged, untested and untried works.”

This month, Virgin Labfest returns with its biggest anthology yet—something that will surely excite and delight its niche fanbase.

CCP shares this press release to theater-loving Pinoys:

The CCP Virgin Labfest launches its third and the biggest anthology, titled "Mga Piling Dula mula sa Virgin Labfest 2013-2016 Ikatlong Antolohiya,” on July 6, 2017 at the CCP’s Silangan Hall at 6pm.

The plays selected for this volume were chosen from 48 that were staged in the 9th to 11th editions of the Virgin Labfest, the annual theater festival that aims to provide a venue for the emerging and established Filipino playwrights to present their unpublished, unstaged, untested and untried works to the theater-going public.

Edited by veteran playwright Rody Vera, the third anthology features 19 plays by playwrights Herlyn Alegre, Alexandra May Cardoso, Ma. Cecilia de la Rosa, Eljay Castro Deldoc, Jerome Ignacio, J-Mee (Marie) Katanyag, Dominique Beatrice T. La Victoria, Reya May Laplana, Maynard Manansala, Liza Magtoto, Bernadette Neri, Dingdong Novenario, Raymund Reyes, Juan Miguel Severo, Kevin Tabora, Guelan Varela-Luarca, and Carlo Vergara.

This latest anthology, the third in the series, celebrates the rich harvest of unbridled creativity and undiscovered talents in the VLF over the years. A tri-project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, its resident theater company Tanghalang Pilipino and playwright group The Writer’s Bloc Inc., this year's theater festival is dedicated to National Artists Daisy Avellana and Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero who had contributed greatly to Philippine theater.

National Artist Avellana elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a new level of excellence by staging and performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign plays. She also encouraged the establishment of performing groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater. Meanwhile, National Artist Ma. Guerrero pioneered the concept of theater campus tour and allowed students and audiences to experience the basic grammar of staging and acting in familiar and friendly ways through his plays that humorously reflect the behavior of the Filipino.

The VLF fans will have a chance to meet and greet the playwrights during the launch. The latest anthology book, as well as Unang Tagpo and Virgin Labfest Anthologies 1 and 2, will be sold at discounted prices.

For more details, call at 551-5959, 0919-3175708, or email ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com.