Limelight

What a wonderful week last week was. What an awesome year 2016 is turning out to be for Filipino movies—and for one uncommon and uncompromising filmmaker, in particular. 

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Arthouse Cinema, in cooperation with Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (Sofia), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the University of the Philippines Los Baños Foundation Inc., presents Manuel Conde@100 at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde on Sept. 24, and Oct. 1 and 8. 

By Alvin I. Dacanay Box-office hit Heneral Luna led all contenders in the 34th Luna Awards of the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) with 11 nominations, the latest addition to the long list of honors earned by the acclaimed screen biography of the iconic Philippine Revolutionary Army commander.

For its 30th season, the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT) is bringing the country’s folklore to life onstage with its second production, titled Filipino Masterpieces, featuring Darangen ni Bantugen at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) from Sept. 23 to 25.

Story and photo by Alvin I. Dacanay  Actress Liza Diño, the new chairwoman of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), aims to forge partnerships with industry and arts-and-culture organizations and promote the production of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) films, as well as streamline or strengthen her agency’s programs, during her three-year term. 

To celebrate the 25th year of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) in the Philippines, the 19th Cine Europa film festival will highlight its chosen theme of friendship in the 24 European films, including an Oscar and Golden Globe nominee, and four Filipino movies it will screen for free at the Shangri-La Plaza mall’s Shang Cineplex from Sept. 8 …

Conclusion (For the second part of this column, click here) Like in Mercury is Mine, a bond also plays a central part in Roderick Cabrido’s splendidly shot and deliberately paced Tuos (Pact). This bond is different, though: it’s deeper and tighter, spans generations, and is marked by memory and myth, as well as by blood. 

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and Ma-Yi Theater Company, in association with Tanghalang Pilipino and Philippine Air Lines and with the support of Stage Craft International, will stage Asian-American playwright Lloyd Suh’s The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go! at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theater) from Sept. 16 to 25. 

Second of three parts (For the first part of this column, click here) If there’s one film that can claim to be the most “unconventional” among Cinemalaya’s full-length entries this year, it would be Cenon Obispo Palomares and David R. Corpuz’s Kusina (Her Kitchen), the screenplay of which won Palomares first prize in its category at the 2006 Carlos Palanca Memorial …

Eduardo Roy Jr.’s Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary Family), a compelling portrait of two teenage street dwellers and their desperate search for their kidnapped baby, scooped five major awards at the conclusion of the 12th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival on Aug. 14.