Day 2 BIFFo

Touched by the hand of God
or in my case Sion Sono
Why Don't you Play in Hell?    Hell Yeah, why not?
The prodigious filmmaker who has failed to disappoint just tops it once again.
Well the two masks of drama have one who weeps (Sono's usual) and one who laughs (Sono's strength in this film) The brutality is still there, the gore is aplenty along with buckets of blood but the humour is dished up in spades. Plus all the coincidences of life for all the characters, the looped de dos, the brilliance of what was random at the start becomes profound by the end. the absolute fucking fantastical. Fans will not be disappointed but also those who are fresh and new to the master will love this feast. It's got it all! The Yakuza gang that swaps their 'western style' dress for the more traditional Kimono, Samurai sword slashing excesses, gigantic gun battle extraordinaire, film geek 'fuck bombers' death by broken glass....in the mouth, film god homages and a really catchy toothpaste ad.

and then at the end of the film in he walked for a twenty minute Q&A. The cinema went wild!

 

as did I. My Korean failed me and my Japanese is shit but sometimes just being in the presence of a holly one is enough.

Oh yeah and I literally was touched by him when he signed my ticket.

Pretty hard to top that one

but the next stop was Hannah Espia's Transit

This was its international premier after winning best film (+ a whole lot of other awards) at the Cinemalaya 2013 'New Breed' category in the Philippines. It's the story of Filipino migrant workers in Israel and specifically their children that have been born there. In 2009 there was a law passed that did not recognise these kids as Israeli and they started deporting them to their parents country of origin. Transit follows the life of one such broken family and their vain attempts to dodge the authorities. It's about identity and dislocation, striving for a better life but staying true to your roots. Visually it captures life in Israel, the coast of Jaffa, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv beautifully  but it also captures the tension and paranoia of those with something to hide. 

Hannah's background as an editor comes to the fore when she retrospectively decided to structure the film as 5 points of view of the same story. Sometimes we see the same scenario from a different view but we always get a little bit more of the story with each character. I love this sort of structure, reminiscent of of Hong Sang soo film but not quite as bold. It works very powerfully with this story and is backed up with strong performances.     

I'm used to writing about Mercedes Cabral in association with Brillante Mendoza's films but here she is as the recently arrived immigrant worker with no real permit. Very understated but great performance. A big tick to the director. But the real scene stopper is peanut, the little boy who eventually gets deported. his story is but one of five points of view of the same scenario but he is brilliant! Another stand out is Jasmine Curtis Smith as the older sister of peanut, truly a star to watch.

Jasmine Curtis Smith

Transit ticks a lot of boxes. Structure, Visuals and Performance  are all very strong and although the story is one of hopelessness you are not left at the end without hope. This is a very accomplished debut feature for the director and quite a beautiful experience to watch.

A great way to finish the day and then a very informative Q&A post film.

Hannah Espia & producer Paul Soriano

Filipino Forte or the day I want to go to Newyork

The International Film Festival Manhattan IFFM 2012.
Here's a festival that's kicking off in the Big Apple mid November and amongst its line up is a good selection of Pinoy Indie Films. I'm starting to get a bit jealous of these fests that have a bundle of  films that I have read about, watched trailers for, sometimes chatted to their makers but as yet have not seen them.
Anyway for you all in New York you have the chance and this is what you can see.

Ganap Na Babae/Garden of Eve - Fri. Nov.  9, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Directed by: Rica Arevalo, Ellen Ramos, Sarah Roxas (HUBO)

Movie Poster for the MHP Award Winner

A film shot in three parts and directed by three women, certainly one that would pass the The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies with flying colours! and Yes that's Mercedes Cabral and no this is not the first post of mine she has appeared in (Pinoy Pride & I Wanna Go to Busan) but look who else is on the bill. Sue Prado is also in it and she is also very prolific 
(Bahay Bata/Baby Factory by Eduardo W Roy Jr. and Cuchera by Joseph Isreal Laban are two fairly recent ones)
I think you could safely say she was all over Cinemalaya in 2011.

She also appears in Aswang/Vampire by Jerold Tarog - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 9:30 PM 
Jerold is a very interesting filmmaker who has made some great shorts but caught my attention with Senior Year released in 2010. Aswang is a horror and looks great.

Sue Prado, champion of independent cinema

HUBO has another in the line up, this one directed by Will Fredo or from 'the psyche of Will Fredo' (also known for his Butoh 舞踏 performances)
The Caregiver - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 7:20PM
Looks like another great production from a very solid and consistent team.
But back to the Butoh, check this wild performance out

 

KARNE: The Birth and Killing of the Flesh from blindwill

 

Some of the other films from the Philippines include:
Haruo (Springtime Man) by Adolfo Alix Jr - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 5:00 PM
staring Jacky Woo & Cherry Pie Picache from the man who bought you ISDA/Fable of the Fish 

Thelma by Paul Soriano  - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 3 PM 
this also has Sue Prado in it 

Busong by Auraeus Solito - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 1:00 PM  

Oh and I want to mention a short film being shown called 
Alibi by Perry Escano - Mon. Nov. 12, 2012 at 1PM
A cautionary tale centered on two actor friends who perpetually search for urban adventure and cosmopolitan excitement. A look into what happens between scenes during production.

And there are others too, check out the program, even a few Aussie ones. 
I reckon I'd be a pig in shit at this festival 

Pinoy Showcase at the IFFM 2012

 

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