Highlights at BIFF but missing at MIFF or Pinoy Pride

BIFF  - Window on Asian Cinema.
16th Busan International Film Festival October 2011
This is where I want to be come October. Unlike at MIFF these guys have programed some pretty good Pinoy films. We had not one film from the Philippines at MIFF 2011 and I know its not because there is nothing from that country to screen.  A quick look at the program says that the Koreans know this also.
Highlights included.

AMOK by Lawrence Fajardo
My eyes and ears on the ground put this as the one to see at this years Cinemalaya. Set at a busy intersection in Manila on a very hot day, how does one man's rage effect those around? I haven't seen it but the look in the trailer and the word of mouth indicate something a little bit special going on here.

AMOK shot on the street and keeping it real

The trailer features Johhny Cash covering the NIN song 'Hurt'

Fable of the Fish by Adolfo Alix Jr
Adolfo is one of the promising upcoming directors of the Philippines, some may say already there? He has 18 titles under his belt since his debut feature Donsol (2006) and they have all been well represented on the international arena. Ranging from Oscar nominated 'Best Foreign Film' to TIFF, to Roterdam to Busan/Pusan and always Cinemalaya, he has what we'd say 'the runs on the board' but he doesn't play cricket that I'm aware of. ISDA (Fable of a Fish) is about a couple who give birth to a fish, Mum accepts it but Dad has a hard time. It is an exploration of family, what are the needs, what are the compromises.

ISDA (Fable of the Fish) Movie Poster

check the trailer

 Mask (Maskara) by Laurice Guillen
 This was the opening film of Cinemalaya 2011. A tale about a grieving widow who discovers that her famous actor husband had a secret daughter and her coming to terms with this news.

Mask

 Trailer       Laurice is a well established (30+ yrs), award winning Filipino director and actor.

Nono by Rommel Tolentino
The story of a little boy with a hairlip and how he overcomes adversity. Sorry sounds a bit dweeb, check out the official website

Ian Galliguez (Aling Glenda) and Axle Aeiou Samson (Toto) in Nono

It's an international premiere in Korea but the world premier was Cinemalaya 2011, exactly the same for Mask.

Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) by Marlon Rivera

Movie Poster for Cinemalaya

3 filmmakers, from well to do backgrounds, set out to rece their 'award winning' next film which is all about poverty. This is a self referential piece that has the film within the film but in a number of different genres.
Babae sa Septic Tank is a comedy about misguided ambitions, the art of making art and the romanticization of poverty.  Another from the 2011 Cinemalaya.   Trailer/Teaser

There are also some films that aren't in the program but I would love to see like Jerrold Tarog's Senior Year,  Bahay Bata (Baby Factory) by Eduardo Roy Jr & Jerome Zamora, the hard hitting Cuchera by Joseph Isreal Laban and anything with Mercedes Cabral (whoops!) but remember she did win 'The Most Beautiful Actress' at the 61st Cannes Film Festival and she has been cast by Korea's Park Chan-wook plus stared in Brillante Mendoza's Serbis along with a host of other movie credits. This years Cinemalaya saw her in three films.

Mercedes Cabral

So back to BIFF, 5 films from the Philippines in the official selection and just to give you a flavour of what they're in amongst. 
Try Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance and his latest Himizu (yet to see that), Eternity from Thailand plus films from Iran, India, China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Kazakhstan. 
I still scratch my head when I think back to MIFF and ask 'where were they???' 
This is just the Window of Asian Cinema. You also have World Cinema, Korean Cinema Today, International & National Guests and a massive market. I reckon it would be a pretty good place to be come October.
6th to the 14th of October 2011 Busan, South Korea