Singkuwento Int’l Film Fest to honor Brillante Mendoza

There are already many film festivals in the country but this doesn’t stop other entities in coming up with festivals of their own to stir up awareness for local movies.

Such is Singkuwento International Film Festival which starts on February 21, 6 p.m. at the Tanghalang Leandro Locsin of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, at the NCCA Building, 633 General Malvar Street Intramuros, Manila.

The festival’s objective is to “give Filipinos both here and abroad a channel where they can share their impressions of the Philippines and its people,” said festival director Perry Escano.

A total of 51 filmmakers and 53 films will be showcased. Three movies that tackle the harsh realities faced by impoverished Filipinos here and abroad, will open the weeklong film derby.

These are Roberto Reyes Ang’s “TNT” (Always on The Run), a short film that tells the life of an illegal immigrant living in the United States. Ang’s short film recently won the Best Ensemble award from the 2014 International Film Festival in Manhattan, New York City.

Perry Escano’s “Ang Platinong Buhok” is a short docu-film about the late theater, TV and film actress Amable “Ama” Quiambao. The docu talks of the much missed Quiambao and her life as a mother, friend, teacher and actress.

Nash Ang’s “Paraiso” is a 60-minute documentary that follows the lives of child survivors and their remaining families one month after super typhoon Yolanda. It reveals their struggles as they rebuild their lives in what was once their paradise.

These screenings will be followed by Jun Lana’s award-winning drama “Barber’s Tales,” which features Eugene Domingo, Iza Calzado, Nonie Buencamino and Eddie Garcia.

The Singkuwento Film Festival, with screenings until February 28, started in 2013 as a non-competition festival that showcased short films by a small group of filmmakers.

This year, it will start its first competition that is open to the public. Fifteen short films will battle for awards for Best Short Film, Best Cultural Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film, among others. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony on February 28.

For his invaluable contributions to the movie industry, filmmaker Brillante Mendoza will be the recipient of this year’s Singkuwento International Lifetime Achievement Award.

Aside from the competing short films, the Singkuwento International fest will also exhibit 15 shorts and screen full-length films from directors Jason Paul Laxamana, Nick Olanka, Rica Arevalo, Ellen Ramos, Sarah Roxas, Diane Ventura, Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, Mes de Guzman Will Fredo, Francis Xavier Pasion, Benito Bautista, Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes.

Films by young directors Kip Oebanda (“Tumbang Preso”) and Don Gerardo Frasco (“Waves”) will likewise have their first international film fest screenings during the Singkuwento fest.  Screening schedules will be announced soon.

Concluding film of the Singkuwento Film Festival is Joselito Altarejos’ “Kasal” on February 28 at 6 p.m. The movie, a slice of life of a gay couple played by Arnold Reyes and Oliver Aquino, bagged the Best Film award (Directors’ Showcase) at the 2014 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

After the screening, awarding of the Best Short Film, Best Cultural Short Film and Best Documentary Short Film happens at 8 p.m.

The weeklong event is in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and MPJ Entertainment Productions. For tickets, visit ticketworld.com.ph.

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Do you believe in love at first sight? In attraction and pheromones? Or that opposites do attract? It could, it might. But can it last?

This month, Solar Pictures brings you an original modern love story that mixes the charm and wit of “Before Sunrise” and “High Fidelity” with the passion, beauty and heartbreak of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “Garden State.”

“Comet” is a time-hopping relationship drama; an anti-rom com of sorts about falling in and out and in love again. It is a love story told in the most unconventional of ways. As the opening title card states: “It takes place over six years (a few parallel universes over).”

Written and directed by Sam Esmail, “Comet” stars Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum (“The Day After Tomorrow,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Mystic River”) and Justin Long (“Tusk” “Live Free or Die Hard,” “He’s Just Not That Into You”).

Kimberly (Rossum) and Dell (Long), first meet at the Hollywood Forever cemetery where they’ve both come to watch a meteor shower. Kimberly is brilliant and beautiful; Dell is nerdy and pessimistic, but with an incredibly sharp mind and the audacity to ask for Kim’s number right in front of her date.

Later, he asks her with a dare: “Do you believe in love? I don’t. So let’s put it to the test. Let’s date each other.”

Kim and Dell don’t seem like the ideal pair, but somehow, they are cosmically drawn to each other and under a night sky, luminous with falling stars, their epic love story begins.

What starts out as a typical romance quickly turns dreamlike as the film zigzags back and forth in time, examining their eventual six-year relationship: from their meteor shower encounter in LA, a monumental fight at a Paris hotel room, a breakup conversation after Dell moves to New York; reconnecting on a train ride; and finally, when Dell pops in on Kimberly unexpectedly in her home in the Hollywood Hills.

The cosmic forces brought them together but why does fate continue to break them apart?

“Comet” opens in cinemas nationwide on February 25 and is released by Solar Pictures.

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It is good to know that the Angelica Panganiban-JM De Guzman starrer “That Thing Called Tadhana” is doing good at the box-office and had so far reached P100 million mark in earnings. This augurs well for the Cinema One Originals entry which had also won two best actress awards for Angelica.

The movie, directed by Antoinette Jadaone, is being described by viewers’ as the “hugot” movie this Valentine’s. Many of those who have seen the movie said they were able to relate to the story and the characters portrayed by Angelica and JM seemed so close to home.

That the movie made good at the box-office is welcome news as it proves that even an indie film can crossover the mainstream market and be profitable as well.