SAN FRANCISCO – The “latest and greatest” in Filipino Cinema will be presented at The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) here to celebrate stories of the Philippines’ 7,107 islands in 14 films—all in 10 days.
New Filipino Cinema film festival, now in its fourth year, features independent cinema from the Philippines, showcasing a huge range of talents. All films will be shown digitally, in their original language with English subtitles.
Film showings will run from Thursday, June 11 to Sunday, June 28 at the YBCA Screening Room, 701 Mission Street. Opening reception will be on June11 at 6 p.m., while Closing reception will be on Sunday, June 14 at 6 p.m.
New Filipino Cinema Films Onstage:
The Coffin Maker (Magkakabaung) by Jason Paul Laxamana
Thursday, June 11, 6 p.m. reception / 7 p.m. screening / Friday, June 19, 7 p.m.
In one of the most highly praised Filipino films of the year, a hard-working father tries his best to raise a young daughter alone in a rural area, but he is ill-prepared for what fate throws their way. The film takes us on a deeply emotional journey, free of cliché and sentimentality, slowly unveiling the struggles of a man who must confront his guilt and remorse. (2014, 102 min, digital)
Mariquina by Milo Sogueco
Friday, June 12, 12:30 p.m. / Sunday, June 21, 4 p.m.
Unlike the former Philippine First Lady who shares her name, Imelda is indifferent towards shoes. To her, they are fraught with the bittersweet nostalgia of childhood, one that was marred by a difficult relationship with her shoemaker father. When he passes away, she’s given a very important task: to find the perfect pair of black leather wingtips or him to be buried in. As she goes about this task, she is drawn back to the past, into the events that broke her family apart. The deeper she searches for the perfect shoes, the more she finds herself. (2014, 116 min, digital)
Otso by Elwood Perez
Friday, June 12, 3 p.m.
Best known for old-school sexy romps like Silip: Daughters of Eve, industry veteran Elwood Perez makes his return to Filipino cinema with a loopy, unhinged film that unravels the creative process. Lex returns to Manila and starts work on a screenplay about the secret lives of the residents of a bizarre apartment building. Perez references Fellini and name-checks current critical darlings, providing a running meta-commentary on his philosophy of cinema and its possibilities. (2014, 84 min, digital)
Reptilia in Suburbia (Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas) by Timmy Harn
Friday, June 12, 5 p.m. / Sun, June 21, 2 p.m.
There are no suburbs in Metro Manila. There are only walled subdivisions, little pockets of affluence often sitting right in the middle of the squalor of the city. Reptilia in Suburbia details life in one of these subdivisions, following the members of one family as they love, fight, and hunt for snakes. Director Timmy Harn offers a loving but side-eyed tribute to the films of the 90s, using the aesthetics of both the mainstream and the underground to reveal both sides of a walled-in life. (2014, 75 min, digital)
Relaks, It’s Just Pag-Ibig by Antoinette Jadaone & Irene Villamor
Friday, June 12, 7:30 p.m. / Thursday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.
Directors Antoinette Jadaone & Irene Villamor in person on June 12
This is a simple tale of young people falling in love (pag-ibig)—or maybe not so simple. Two teenagers go on an adventure to find lovers who have promised to meet on a beach underneath a blue moon. The film embraces the well-worn Philippine rom-com formula, but infuses it with dazzling new energy. It takes full advantage of the youth of its subjects, crafting a story that recognizes that a first love is life’s first great adventure. (2014, 100 min, digital)
Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2 by Erik Matti
Friday, June 12 10 p.m. / Sat, June 20, 5 p.m.
Heartthrob Dingdong Dantes is back and ready to battle the kubot in this completely crazy horror comedy. The kubot are a clan of long-haired female ghouls, who use their tentacle-like hair to squeeze their victim’s innards out like toothpaste. This is the latest effort from the great Filipino director Erik Matti, best known in the US for his gritty crime drama On the Job. Don’t worry if you didn’t see part one, this is a completely new story that stands on its own. (2014, 105 min, digital)
Nick and Chai by Cha Escala & Wena Sanchez
Saturday, June 13, 12noon / Sunday, June 21, 12:30 p.m.
In November 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan claimed the lives of Nick and Chai Quieta’s four children and destroyed their home in Leyte, leaving them with nothing but each other. Now, four months later, the couple is in limbo as they try to move forward, but their guilt and longing keep them from taking the first step. We witness their emotional highs and lows as they try new hobbies, help their community recover, and learn the value of small acts of kindness in this moving documentary. (2014, 70 min, digital)
T-Bird at Ako by Danny Zialcita
Saturday, June 13, 1:30 p.m.
In Filipino cinema, you have to pick a side: Nora Aunor or Vilma Santos. Wars have long been fought over whose star shines brighter. 1982’s T-Bird at Ako (presented here in a brand-new high-def restoration) unites the two superstars in a madcap plot that could only come from veteran director Danny Zialcita. Aunor plays a successful lesbian lawyer that falls in love with Santos’ beerhouse dancer, who has been accused of murdering her boyfriend. While the sexual politics are quaint at best, the film is a great showcase for the two stars, with Zialcita’s knack for dramatic (and comedic) confrontations producing plenty of screwball fun. (1982, 155 min, digital)
Sparks (Dagitab) by Giancarlo Abrahan
Saturday, June 13, 5 p.m. / Saturday, June 20, 2 p.m.
In this mysterious and captivating film, the marriage of two professors is on the verge of falling apart. The wife is dragged into a scandal involving a young student and the husband falls in love with the object of his research—a supernatural being that appears to him as the ghost of an old flame. With superb performances by Nonie Buencamino and Eula Valdez, Sparks (Dagitab) illuminates sublime truths about the profound love that can come from long-term relationships. (2014, 120 min, digital)
Esprit de Corps by Kanakan-Balintagos (aka Auraeus Solito)
Saturday, June 13, 8 p.m. / Director Kanakan-Balintagos (aka Auraeus Solito) in person on June 13
From the director of The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros. It is the last three weeks of military training during the Marcos dictatorship. The cadets must pass through hell week: grueling physical tests, war games and a final test at the dreaded Interrogations Room. Many are hoping for the position of Major Mac Favila. He is every cadet’s ideal officer—sharp, witty and the most macho among the school’s officers. With a strong homoerotic subtext, Esprit de Corps is a subversive take on the military drama, where ultramasculine displays of power shift into intense games of seduction. (2014, 94 min, digital)
Lorna by Andrea Bernardo
Sunday, June 14, 1:30 p.m. / Friday, June 19, 9:10 p.m.
Director Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo and actress Maria Isabel Lopez in person June14
From the director of last year’s hit Anita’s Last Cha-Cha, Lorna stars Shamaine Buencamino as a recently minted senior citizen rediscovering the thrill of falling in love and the pain of heartbreak. A masterful blending of drama and comedy, Lorna finds punchlines in the more affecting of moments, and deep emotion in the most humorous of situations. Buencamino turns in the performance of a lifetime, Maria Isabel Lopez and Raquel Villavicencio are superb in supporting roles, and filmmaker Lav Diaz delivers one of the most memorable roles of the year. A pleasure from start to finish. (2014, 124 min, digital)
Dynamite Fishing (Badil) by Chito S. Roño
Sunday, June 14, 4:30 p.m.
Corruption is so ubiquitous in the Philippines that it reaches down to the lowest levels of politics. Dynamite Fishing looks deeply into the details of how local elections are won and lost, with political henchman on the prowl, ensuring the votes cast are for their candidates. Director Chito Roño, who is responsible for some of the biggest hits in the Philippine mainstream, forgoes the big budgets to deliver this gritty tale of corruption on the streets. (2013, 89 min, digital)
That Thing Called Tadhana by Antoinette Jadaone
Sunday, June 14, 6 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. screening / Saturday, June 20, 7:30 p.m.
Director Antoinette Jadaone in person on June 14
Tadhana means destiny. The Filipino romantic comedy is actually rarely about romance nowadays. They tend to be about two people dealing with all sorts of other narrative issues who just happen to be falling in love. Antoinette Jadaone’s That Thing Called Tadhana distills the Filipino romantic movie down to its core, following two characters.
Special Event – New Lav Diaz Film!
From What is Before (Mula sa kung ano ang noon) by Lav Diaz
Saturday, June 27 & Sunday, June 28, 2: p.m.
Following up his internationally acclaimed Norte, the End of History, Filipino master Lav Diaz returns to one of his enduring themes—the ongoing trauma caused by the Marcos regime. It’s 1972. Mysterious things are happening in a remote barrio. Wails are heard from the forest, cows are hacked to death, a man is found bleeding and houses are burned. Ferdinand E. Marcos announces Proclamation No. 1081, putting the entire country under martial law. Winner of the Golden Leopard, 2014 Locarno Film Festival. (2014, 338 min, presented w/ 40-minute intermission, digital.
Curated by Philbert Ortiz Dy and Joel Shepard, the New Filipino Cinema 2015 is also co-sponsored by Filipino American Arts Exposition (FAAE) and FACINE.
Tickets are at $10 (regular) and $8 (YBCA members, students, seniors, teachers). Buy four (4) tickets or more screenings and receive 25 percent off. To purchase, log on to https://tickets.ybca.org/subscription/packageDetail.aspx?pkg=356&flex=Y&nfs=N