Limelight

The Italian Film Festival 2025 which returned last week at Cinema 2, SM Aura, with a curated selection of acclaimed films that celebrate the charm, wit, and emotional depth of contemporary Italian cinema will extend its other activities on Italian movies. Presented by the Embassy of Italy in Manila, in partnership with the Philippine-Italian Association, the festival showcased three standout …

Every year, the Virgin Labfest Writing Fellowship Program (VLF WFP) calls for aspiring playwrights who are brave enough to learn the best from the best. While the VLF prides itself on presenting the untried, untested, and unstaged plays it produces annually, its accompanying Writing Fellowship Program looks for fellows who are just as untried, untested, and unstaged. In line with …

by Boy Villasanta The Philippine Independence Day in June 12, 2025 or even its pre-celebration activities will not only be observed in the country but all over the world where there are freedom loving Filipinos. Indeed, in New York alone, the Filipino communities in the city will express their gratitude on gaining democracy on the 127th Philippine Independence Day by …

Are we trivializing political things vis-a-vis show business denizens who ran, won or lost, in the recent midterm elections? Or by just simply describing or interrelating comedy or melodrama with character/s of actions and ideas, we are thinking little or laughing them off? Not at all. It doesn’t mean to say that if we discuss politicizing showbiz in the context …

He might not be directly a chip off the old block but John Ad. Castillo has inherited a myriad of cinema wisdom and filmic styles from his late older brother, the award-winning director Celso Ad. Castillo (“Asedillo,” “Nympha,” “Daluyong at Habagat,” “Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa,” “Burlesk Queen,” “Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak,” “Ang Alamat ni Julian Makabayan,” …

We saw him as slim, long-haired, of medium height and an ordinary looking guy. He was also a great singer. Behind his million-dollar, golden voice, though, lies the great romancer. Yes, iconic Filipino folk singer Freddie Aguilar was a great lover. What set him apart, though, from playboys and Lotharios was his loyalty to the love of his life in …

Shin Chul, Festival Director of the 2025 Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in South Korea, has announced that one of the finalists to the 29th Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF)’s It Project is a Philippine entry. Visayan filmmaker Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Brilliant Melody” is one of the fourteen selections of the NAFF component. Carlo Francisco is considered as …

By Boy Villasanta She couldn’t believe what she heard among ahowbiz buddies that one of her best friends has just died. “Patay na si Freddie Aguilar (Freddie Aguilar is dead),” exclaimed sexy actress Vida Verde Tuesday morning. “Totoo ‘yon (That’s true),” added Vida, Catherine Mejia in real life. “I wish it’s not true but I asked around, totoo nga (it’s …

I am very happy and proud about my Facebook friend Bong Cabrera, the “small” actor who took a giant leap when he starred in internationally acclaimed director Lav Diaz’s “Magellan” which saw the light of day at the Cannes Premiere of the 78th Cannes International Film Festival in Cannes, France. I might have seen and met Bong personally in the …

Featuring 12 new scripts by 8 virgin male and female playwrights and 4 returning playwrights in its milestone year, VLFXX: HINOG blooms into a passionate community of unheard voices and untold stories, bringing people closer through truthful and compelling storytelling. This is Virgin Labfest, the most anticipated theater event of unstaged, untested, unproduced, and untried plays. A group of friends …