FILM DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL Chair & CEO Liza Dino Seguerra hosted a special send off presscon for the Philippine delegates to the Cannes Filmfest in France from May 15 to 21. The Philippines has been chosen as the only Asian country in the Spotlight event of the Marche du Film’s Cannes Producers Network that brings producers from all over the world to network with other producers for possible co-productions.
The local delegates led by Liza herself will include Madonna Tarrayo from Unitel, Perci Intalan of IdeaFirst Company, Monster Jimenez from Arkeofilms, Treb Monteras from Dogzilla, Dan VIllegas from Project 8 Projects, Kris Gazmen from Blacksheep, Michaela Tadena from Media East Productions, Pamela Reyes from Create Cinema and Arleen Cuevas from Cinematografica, with ABS-CBN FIlms as guest of honor.
They will all be featured in the Philippine Pavillion at Pavillion 114 along the Village International Riviera from May 14 to 23, 2019 and will be joined by other outfits like Black Ops Studio, Concept One, Epicmedia, Rocketsheep Studio, Sine Olivia, TBA Studios, Visioncapture to build partnertships with content buyers and sellers.
Two short films and one full length film will represent the Philippines in the Cannes Filmfest. First is “Ophelia”, a 15-minute film at the Cannes Short Film Corner, a thesis film made by a Mapua student, Celina Mae Medina, who revealed that it’s a very personal chronicle of her own journey from depression to being diagnosed as a bipolar.
For the International Critics Week section that aims to discover emerging talents, the 20-minute film “The Manila Lover” will be shown. This is a Philippine-Norwegian co-production between Philippines’ Epicmedia and Norway’s Barbosa FIlms, directed by Swedish-Finnish filmmaker Johanna Pyykko starring local actress Angeli Bayani as a Filipina who falls in love with a Norwegian guy.
In the Director’s Fortnight, a non-competitive section, Lav Diaz’ new feature film, “Ang Hupa (The Halt)”, will be shown. This is a dystopian film set in 2034 when the Philippines is in perpetual darkness after volcanic eruptions and it is always raining. The country is under the rule of a madman, played by Joel Lamangan, and his number one enemy is the rebel played by Piolo Pascual. It also stars Shaina Magdayao, Pinky Amador, Hazel Orencio who are all going to Cannes to represent the movie. The FDCP is providing travel assistance for films participating in the festival.
“We are honored to have the opportunity to showcase our presence in the international film scene through the biggest film maket and one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world,” says Liza Dino. “Cannes is an exceptional platform for our filmmakers and film companies to share our stories to global audiences and we can’t wait for them to collaborate with filmmakers from all over the globe and help them turn their dream film projects into reality through international co-productions.”
To Liza Dino and all the participating producers-directors, best of luck and our best wishes for truly productive and fruitful transactions with international producers in Cannes!
