Limelight

More than a month after his latest film Ma’ Rosa was chosen as the Philippines’ official foreign-language film entry to the 89th Academy Awards, prize-winning director Brillante Ma. Mendoza on November 3 became the first beneficiary of the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) Golden Statue Assistance Program in an effort to boost promotion for the movie.

Filipinos are known all over the world for their musical abilities. Blessed with unbelievable vocal range, Filipinos are recognized to be great singers, no matter where they are. Not only that, their originality and ingenuity in creating beats, melodies and tempos are seen as unique.

by Alvin I. Dacanay Valentine’s Day may be three months away, but audienc­es can experience this month love as the ma­ny-splendored—and ma­ny-splintered—thing that it is with emerging theater com­pany Dalanghita Productions’ latest offering, Tatlong Ling­gong Pag-ibig (Three Weeks of Love), which opened at the Power Mac Center Spotlight in Circuit Makati on No­vember 11 and will run every weekend until …

Last Saturday, world-renowned classical pianist Noriko Ogawa performed in an exclusive concert, called Spirited Impres­sions: An Evening of Classical Music with Noriko Ogawa, at the Francisco Santiago Hall of the Banco de Oro (BDO) Corpo­rate Center in Makati City.

The “Maaga ang Pasko (Christmas is Early)” program, the Philippines’ biggest and longest-running annual toy and book donation drive, is once again bringing out the iconic boxes that have helped teach generations of Filipinos the value of sharing and the real spirit of Christmas.

The Fiesta Folkloriada of the Philippines, a project of the Bayanihan Folk Arts Founda­tion held in partnership with the Amb. Alfonso T. Yucheng­co Foundation, is gathering a select group of five dance companies from different parts of the globe to present cultural exchanges in various parts of the Philippines, teach and learn from each other, and perform in a grand …

If there’s a word that best describes the impres­sion that Filipinos made overseas, particularly in Japan, in the last two weeks, it’s “beautiful”.

Veteran screenwriter Ricky Lee was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Scriptwriting by the Interna­tional Film Festival Manhattan (IFFM) in New York.

Popular Filipino rock band Aegis and the Philippine Phil­harmonic Orchestra (PPO) will perform together for the first time in a concert, titled Aegis in Symphony, Symphonic Aegis, at the Tanghalang Ni­canor Abelardo (Main The­ater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on November 13 at 6 p.m.

The angelic sounds of the Christ­mas season are coming earlier than usual this year when the world-famous Vienna Boys Choir performs in a one-night-only con­cert, titled The Vienna Boys Choir Live in Manila, at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Plenary Hall in Pasay City on November 11 at 8 p.m.