Sunday, December 27, 2015

Maine Mendoza aka Yaya Dub is One of the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Winners (2015)!

*pictures are not author's own but came from various sources

New Wave Category


Best Supporting Actor: Thou Reyes (Toto)


















Best Supporting Actress: Bibeth Orteza (Toto)













Best Screenplay: Ari (My Life with a King)


















Best Director: John Paul Su (Toto)
















Best Actor: JM De Guzman (Tandem) and Francisco Guinto (Ari)














Jury Prize: Toto


















Best Picture: Ari (My Life with a King)
















Main Competition


Best Make-Up Artist: Ryan and Ericka (Honor Thy Father)












Best Visual Effect: Nilalang













Best Production Design: Buy Now, Die Later








Best Editing/Best Cinematography: Nilalang








Best Float: Buy Now, Die Later









Best Child Performer: Krystal Brimner (Honor Thy Father)












Best Sound Engineer: Ditoy Aguila (Nilalang)















Best Musical Score: Jessie Lasaten (Nilalang)








Best Original Theme Song: Tao (Honor Thy Father)













FPJ Memorial Award for Excellence/Best Story/Best Screenplay: Walang Forever











Best Director: Erik Matti (Honor Thy Father)
















Best Supporting Actor: Tirso Cruz III (Honor Thy Father)












Best Supporting Actress: Maine Mendoza (My Bebe Love)


















3rd Best Picture: My Bebe Love









2nd Best Picture: Buy Now, Die Later















Best Picture: Walang Forever










Gatpuno Cultural Award: My Bebe Love














Best Actress: Jennylyn Mercado











Best Actor: Jericho Rosales



Monday, December 14, 2015

Kulay Diwa Presents ‘Abstracting Angono’s Rustic Scenes’ of Aaron Bautista

*Majority of this article's content is taken from the exhibit's press release by the museum

Aaron Villamayor Bautista, a member of the Neo-Angono Artists Collective, belongs to the third generation of Angono artists whose artistic lineage traces back to the religious-themed Juan Senson during the waning years of the Spanish period, the murals and modernist works of Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco, and figurative as well as realist traditions of Jose ‘Pitok’ Blanco, Nemesio ‘Nemi’ Miranda Jr., Salvador Juban, Vicente Reyes, and Pepito Villaluz.




We see at Aaron’s creative process the drip paintings of New York artist Jackson Pollock. Combining the movement of his body as well as both controllable and uncontrollable factors with the viscous flow of paint, the force of gravity, and the absorption of paint, enamel, oil, and found objects into canvas, Aaron dramatizes both conscious reclamation and recreation of his childhood past and communal memory of his town and people.





Aaron’s works do not only de-familiarize and abstract his town’s rustic scenes. He contributes and constructs among these chaotic motions of pieces of what is, perhaps, Angono’s abstract art in the age of threatened Laguna Lake and towering SM Center Angono in the town where he found his faith life, and love.






The artworks will be on display until December 7 – January 7, 2015. For more details, you may contact 8260574. Admission is free.



Monday, December 7, 2015

The Beauty of Kapampangan Language Explored in “ARI” starring Ronwaldo Martin

*Photos are from the film's official Facebbok page

            Jaypee (Ronwaldo Martin) a personification of the Kapampangan youth who does not speak Kapampangan, is tasked to fetch 69-year old Conrado Guinto, the reigning king of poets, for the recognition rites in his quaint village. Guinto is the school’s outstanding alumnus. What waited for the two ahead is a deep friendship and an understanding of each other’s upbringing, bridged by the generation gap yet still tied by the Kapampangan lineage.




            The film’s aspect ratio is not the usual, it is 4:3. The casting is also radical, featuring Kapampangans who are mostly non-actors, like the actor who played Guinto, the real-life poet Francisco Guinto. In fact, some of the incidents in the film are based on Guinto’s experience. The tradition of electing the Ari ding Poetang Kapampangan (King of Kapmpangan Poets) is very much alive. The Kapampangan language omits the letter “h”, hence the title being ari instead of hari.




“We want the world to see this little-known literary tradition in Pampanga where poetry is a way of life and poets recite poems at the drop of a hat,” screenwriter Robby Tantingco said. He is also the Director of the Center for Kampampangan Studies. This film, produced by Holy Angel University (HAU), is helmed by one of its alumni active in the filmmaking scene, Carlo Enciso Catu.

HAU faculty members, employees, and students, mostly comprise the cast and crew. Other Kapampangan poets Eufrocina Peña, Felix Garcia, and Policarpio Batac play supporting roles as well as former HAU faculty members Cecile Yumul, Jonalyn Ablong, and Chloe Carpio.




After winning the Best World Film Award from the Harlem International Film Festival and the Best Debut Feature Film Award from the All Lights India International Film Festival, the film is set to have its official Philippine premiere as part of the 41st MMFF in the New Wave Category. Last Dec. 2, there was a press preview held at the MMDA Theater located inside the MMDA Conpound in Guadalupe, Makati City.




The festival runs from December 17 to 24 at the Glorietta 4, SM Megamall, and Robinsons Manila Cinemas. For ticket inquires for ARI: My Life with a King, you may contact 09999590601.



Sunday, November 29, 2015

24 Hours to Go before Martin Nievera's Concert at Solaire!

Christmas is just around the corner so the Concert King has prepared a special treat for music lovers.


Photo from the production house's official FB page


His new concert titled Martin Home for Christmas is directed by Louie Ocampo and is happening tomorrow, Dec. 1 8pm, at the Solaire Theater. To join the fun of ushering in Yuletide, the ABSCBN Philharmonic Orchestra will provide the live musical accompaniment in some of the numbers.

One of PPO's rehearsals (Writer's own photo)


Tickets may be availed via Ticketworld (891-9999) or Solaire (888-8888).


Photo from the production house's official FB page
The concert is produced by Fullhouse Asia Production Studios, Inc.  with Maricel Ticar as the show's production manager.





>>>Click to go to Fullhouse Asia's website

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde mounts Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’

*lifted from the official press release of the group
The De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) commemorates Dante Alighieri’s 750th birth anniversary by’s staging his epic poem “Divine Comedy,” with special focus on the “Purgatorio” on Friday the 13th  of  November from 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm.
            Titled “Purgatory: Love Gone Wrong/Love Redeemed,” the five-hour production is a multi-genre series of site-specific performances and installations at the De La Salle -College of St. Benilde’s from 1:30 pm to 6:00 pm.
            DLS-CSB President Brother Dennis Magbanua, FSC, said “our production of Purgatory: Love Gone Wrong/Love Redeemed is intended to instill an appreciation and deeper embodied understanding of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.”
            “As an innovative and inclusive college, the Benilde community benefits from this project by finding relevance in this medieval masterpiece as a way of understanding personal struggles and yearnings for spiritual rebirth amid the urban blight and congestion and the seduction of consumerism,” said Magbanua, who plays the role of Angelos, Dante’s messenger of joy who guides him to Heaven.
            “With this long vibrant afternoon presentation, the DLS-CSB affirms its place in creative excellence, innovative performance design, and the inclusion of three Benilde campuses, and the community at large,” Magbanua said.
            Benilde School of Design and Arts   Dean Jose Maria U. Yupangco, who is playing the role of Dante, said “Purgatory explores and grapples with the excesses of love and its eventual righteous temperance through movement, music, theater, and co-splay pageantry.”
            “The production is part of a series of events undertaken in collaboration with the Societa Dante Alighieri Manila, which promotes Italian culture and language in the country,” Yupangco said.
            The journey to purgatory will take the participants to the different locations within and floors of the School of Design and Arts building-campus.

            The seven deadly sins of pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust are interpreted through installations and performance art by the faculty and students from the degree programs of theater, dance, music, design foundation, production design, multimedia and fashion.


Benilde School of Design and the Arts Associate Dean Sunita S. Mukhi said that “the production is based on Dante’s magnum opus The Divine Comedy, which is considered pivotal in world literature and a masterpiece of writing in the Italian language.”
            Mukhi, who is lead creator of the production, said among the “highlights of the journey through purgatory are the student and faculty co-splay parade along the streets of Leon Guinto and Pablo Ocampo led by Dean Yupangco, a capella chants and music instrumentations by the Coro San Benildo, and a movement piece by the deaf dancers of the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies and those of the Romancon Dance Company, the SDA’s dance program.”   
            Associate Dean Asela Domingo plays the role of Faith, Associate Dean Abigail Cabanilla is Hope, and Vice Chancellor for La Sallian Mission and Student Life Carmelita Lazatin is Charity.
            The DLS-CSB’s Purgatory is part of the bigger Dante commemoration participated in by UP Diliman, Ateneo, San Juan de Letran, Lyceum University in Intramuros, University of Asia and the Pacific, and by the De La Salle University - Taft, among others.
            About 150 members of the the DLS-CSB’s various departments and programs are taking part in the production.
            Members of the Italian diplomatic community are expected to attend the event.
            The Benilde Dante Project is led by the DLS-CSB School of Design and the Arts’ Culture  and Arts Cluster. Together with it are the SDA cluster in New Media, Fashion Design department, the Office of Arts and Culture, School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management, the School of Multidisciplinary Studies, the School of Management and Information Technology, and the Benilde Pep Squad.           
            For more information on how to visit DLS-CSB on Nov. 13, please contact the SDA Dean’s office at 2305100 loc 3812 or via email at benildedanteproject@gmail.com.
            To learn more about the other Dante Today initiatives of the Societa Dante Alighieri Manila, please visit their Facebook page. 

Monday, October 26, 2015

Amante Pulido, Angelina Kanapi, and other Cast Members of Matangtubig Experienced a Real Storm!

            "Totoong binagyo kami,tiyempong nandun kami that time,nandun din si Mailes (Angelina) at Cherry,akala ko nga mapapak ap kami kasi,ginaw na ginaw kami," Pulido recounted.



Picture from Amante Pulido's FB account
Amante Pulido is the lead actor in Jet Leyco's mystery film (the writer thinks it is) Matangtubig (Town in a Lake). The former plays Homil, a villager in a fishing community who bears witness to what really transpired prior to the disappearance of two girls. According to the director himself, this was inspired by true events in Balete, Batangas where two children went missing. Peppered with symbolisms regarding media's hyperrealism, the film is not for the normal moviegoer expecting a straight story. On it's Facebook page, its genre was written as "Supernatural Suspense/Hollywood Existentialism."



Picture from Amante Pulido's FB account


This is Pulido's first lead role yet he has worked with numerous productions before in playing meaty roles. He more recent appearances include supporting parts in films like The Grave Bandits (2012) and Maratabat (2014). He's happy with the dynamics between him and his co-actors. He has previously worked with Star Orjaliza (who pays Vivian, his wife in the film) and Cherry Malvar (mother of Teri Malvar who's the star of 'Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita). "Naku,angsaya namin,nakagaanan ko sila ng loob, WALA NI ISANG BAD VIBES O NAGMURA sa kanila. Bihira ang ganung production.To my fellow actors, I am so honored & grateful to work with them."



Angelina Kanapi (leftmost) and Rener Concepcion (rightmost) during the gala night of the film


Aside from Pulido, two actors that shone in their respective roles are Angelina Kanapi (Thelma Cruz) and Dylan Ray Talon (Justin). Their screen presence was so strong that you can't help paying full attention to them as they deliver their lines. Talon's billing in the film is "introducing", meaning this is his first major role. He isn't new to the acting industry though. "Naging part ako ng last film ni Jet pero minor role lang ako dun. Nakita niya ako, magkagrupo kami from FEU Theater Guild. Tas, kinast na niya ako."



Dylan Ray Talon after the gala screening


The film is also notable for its grain-free frames during very dark scenes. Leyco talked a little bit about the process during the Q&A session. "We used Sony A7S. We shot it in 10 days with a full crew and 2 extra days with a skeleton crew."



The film's poster designed by Miko Livelo

The film's remaining screenings are later October 27 (Tuesday) 6pm at the Gateway mall and on October 29 (Thursday) 1pm at Robinsons Galleria. The film is part of the 2015 QCinema Film Festival (Year 3).