Oscar entries, festival winners to be screened at QCinema international film fest
MANILA, Philippines — More than 65 titles will be screened at the 11th edition of QCinema International Film Festival (QCIFF), including festival award-winners and Oscar entries, from Nov. 17 to 26 at Gateway Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, UP Town Center, Shangri-la Plaza, and Power Plant Mall cinemas. The tickets are priced at P300 and P250 (for students and Quezon City citizens holding an ID).
The filmfest will kick off with Golden Lion winner in this year’s prestigious Venice Film Festival Poor Things as the opening film and Singapore’s entry to the 2024 Academy Awards, The Breaking Ice by Anthony Chen, as the closing film.
Poor Things is a dark sexy comedy and topbilled by Emma Stone, while The Breaking Ice is a Generation Z drama.
“Elevated” is the theme of this year’s QCinema, which aims to “elevate every Filipino festival-goer’s experience” with its thrilling lineup of movies, divided into 10 sections with three competition sections.
The main competition section, Asian Next Wave, includes films such as Abang Adik by Jin Ong, Gitling by Jopy Arnaldo, Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell by Thien An Pham, Last Shadow At First Light by Nicole Midori Woodford, Love Is A Gun by Lee Hong-chi, Mimang by Kim Tae-yang, Solids By The Seashore by Patiparn Boontarig, and Tiger Stripes by Amanda Nell Eu.
The film Abang Adik bagged the Udine’s Far East Film Festival’s the Golden Mulberry audience award, the Black Dragon Critics’ prize, and Best First Feature, while Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell won the Caméra d’Or or Best Feature Film at Cannes.
Taiwanese film Love Is A Gun won the Best First Feature award at the Venice International Film Festival, Tiger Stripes was awarded the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and Gitling is Cinemalaya’s Best Screenplay winner.
For the short films category called QCShorts, the titles in competition are A Catholic School Girl by Myra Angeline Soriaso, Abutan Man Tayo ng Houselights by Apa Agbayani, Animal Lovers by Aedrian Araojo, Microplastics by Lino Balmes, Tamgohoy by Roxlee, and Tumatawa, Umiiyak by Che Tagyamon.
Ten short films from Southeast Asia will contend in the QCSEA category. They are Basri And Salma In A Never-Ending Comedy by Khozy Rizal, Buoyant by Toan Thanh Doan and Hoang-Phuc Nguyen-Le, Cross My Heart And Hope To Die by Sam Manacsa, Dominion by Bea Mariano, Hito by Stephen Lopez, I Look Into The Mirror And Repeat Myself by Giselle Lin, Kung nga-a Conscious ang mga Alien sang ila Skincare (The Thing About Aliens And Their Skin Care) by Seth Andrew Blanca and Niño Maldecir, The Altar by Moe Myat May Zarchi, and When You Left Me On That Boulevard by Kayla Abuda Galang.
In the Exhibition Sections, Locarno Golden Leopard winner Critical Zone by Ali Ahmadzadeh and Special Jury Prize winner Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World by Radu Jude, and Venice Grand Jury Prize and FIPRESCI Award winner Evil Does not Exist by Ryusuke Hamaguchi will be shown under the Screen International section.
Joining the list are Cannes Jury Prize winner at the Palme d’Or Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury Perfect Days by Wim Wenders, and Best Director winner The Taste of Things by Tr?n Anh.
Berlin Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize winner Afire by Christian Petzold, Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers and Sweet Dreams by Ena Sendijarevi? are also in this section.
The five films in the New Horizons section are City Of Wind by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, Foremost By Night by Victor Iriarte, Scrapper by Charlotte Regan (Grand Jury Prize winner for the World Cinema Dramatic Competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival), Through The Night by Delphine Girard, and Women From Rote Island by Jeremias Nyangoen.
In Restored Classics, the films that will be featured are Wong Kar-wai classics Chungking Express and Fallen Angels, Enter the Dragon by Robert Clouse and A Clockwork Orange by Stanley Kubrick.
Mutt by Vuk Langulov-Klotz (Special Jury Award for Best Acting at Sundance), Passages by Ira Sachs, Peter Von Kant by François Ozon, and Woman Of… by Micha? Englert and Ma?gorzata Szumowska are in this year’s RainbowQC.
Lav Diaz returns to QCinema at the Special Screenings section with his film Essential Truths of The Lake.
Other films are Irreversible: Straight Cut by Gaspar Noé, Karaoke by Moshe Rosenthal, Only the River Flows by Wei Shujun (Best Film at the Pingyao Int’l. Film Festival), Raging Grace by Paris Zarcilla, Saltburn by Emerald Fennell, Strange Way of Life and The Human Voice by Pedro Almodóvar.
The Before Midnight section also returns with Hungry Ghost Diner by We Jun Cho, Femme by Sam Freeman and Ng Choon Ping, River by Junta Yamaguchi, and Red Rooms by Pascal Plante.
QCinema’s documentary section called QCDox will screen the following films: Divine Factory by Joseph Mangat, Nowhere Near by Miko Revereza, and National Anarchist: Lino Brocka by Khavn.
QCinema is likewise introducing two new programs this year, the QCinema Project Market (QPM) and QCinema Young Film Critics Lab.
As per media release, QPM will connect promising projects from the Philippines and the rest of Asia with producers to help give these films funding. It is an extension of QCinema’s original grant program, and the QPM will give out cash grants to the best projects in attendance.
The QCinema Young Film Critics Lab, on the other hand, will gather a group of young Filipinos interested in creating content around film and offer them access to industry professionals to help foster their burgeoning careers.
The International Film Industry Conference, which is co-organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, will also be held which offers an international platform to continue the synergy of the industry by featuring talks from experts and professionals.
The film event has collaborated with renowned Filipino artist Dex Fernandez, known for his iconic creation “Garapata.”
Meanwhile, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said that the city has recently received an award from the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines for Best International Event Hosted by a Local Government.
She also cited how QCinema has evolved into an international film event throughout the years. “Through this, we started to unfold the vast potential for QCinema as a sustainable tourism activity for QC and see the festival in an elevated manner,” she remarked.
“Elevated which is also the theme for this year’s filmfest is a homage to what QCinema has become in over a decade. Eleven years na po tayo this year. While it still continues to grow as a platform for the best of Philippine cinema and world cinema, QCinema never fails to deliver the warmest festival hospitality and the most audience-friendly services,” Mayor Belmonte said.
“Year after year, it strives to bring in unique and fresh features that would entice and engage more guests and patrons. This, along with the other plans of the local government, is centered on our ultimate objective of making QC the film hub of the southeast Asian region.”
To further the objective, Belmonte said they are “in the process of crafting legislative measures as well as intensifying our efforts to amplify the film and tourism industry by putting up key infrastructure to support it.”
In the works is the creation of a one-stop shop for “faster and hassle-free film and media shoots” in QC. They hope to “standardized fees and ensure that these are included in the city’s revenue stream.”
“That’s why we are also preparing all these components necessary for us to apply for the prestigious UNESCO Creative City for Film in 2025,” she added.
Liza Diño-Seguerra, executive director of QC Film Commission, said that they already started the initial planning for the QC film desk and estimated that they will be launching it by March or April.
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