All-Masters National Film Festival to be screened at the Shang Cineplex

The Sineng Pambansa All-Masters National Film Festival will be extended and screened at the Shangri-la Cineplex from the 11th to the 27th of October. Each film by the master directors will have a day and a cinema completely devoted to the showing of their films. Standard ticket prices will apply.

The schedule for each film is as follows:

• October 11 (Friday) – Elwood Perez’s Otso
• October 12 (Saturday) – Joel Lamangan’s Lihis
• October 13 (Sunday) – Peque Gallaga’s and Lore Reyes’ Sonata
• October 18 (Friday) – Gil M. Portes’ Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle
• October 19 (Saturday) – Romy Suzara’s Tinik
• October 20 (Sunday) – Maryo J. Delos Reyes’ Bamboo Flowers
• October 24 (Thursday) – Celso Ad Castillo’s Bahay ng Lagim
• October 25 (Friday) – Chito Roño’s Badil
• October 26 (Saturday) – Mel Chionglo’s Lauriana
• October 27 (Sunday) – Jose Javier Reyes’ Ano ang Kulay ng mga Nakalimutang Pangarap

According to a recent blog article by journalist Jessica Zafra, "what a filmmaker needs is the freedom to make the film his/her way." The Sineng Pambansa Film Festival provides the audience with 10 films that master directors have wanted to shoot.

Initial reviews from the first screening week of the film festival are as follows:

"Director Chito Rono proves that even with a limited budget of P1.5 million from the Film Development Council of the Philippines, one can create a film with beautiful cinematography, exciting editing, artistic depth and national significance. Now that is a true master."

- Fred Hawson's review for Chito Roño's Badil

"Throughout the movie you may find yourself asking, "What the hell is going on?" and it is to the filmmaker's credit that walking out of the cinema is not a real option."

- Jessica Zafra's review for Elwood Perez's Otso

"The acting is commendable. Newcomer Ellen Adarna convincingly portrays the conflicting emotions and growing pains a teenager feels. Arnold Reyes as Ka Ruben stole the movie. He is the heart of the story. As a man who lost his daughter, Arnold makes you feel the emotional baggage that he carries in every scene."

- Jen Chuansu's review for Gil Portes' Ang Tag-araw ni Twinkle

"The screenplay by Aloy Adlawan takes vignettes of narratives that exemplify how life here, filled with dreams, hopes, fears and disappointments, takes on a universal hue that we all can identify with… The ensemble cast comes through with flying colors."

- Philip Cu Unjieng's review for Maryo J. de los Reyes' Bamboo Flowers

"…The maturity of the filmmakers’ artistry ultimately makes sense of the story’s inexplicable music about love and mortality."

- Rianne Hill Soriano's review for Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes' Sonata

"It might have been talked about because of its graphic depiction of homosexuality, but the film goes beyond its perceived shock value, as it tries to tackle various aspects of social inequality and oppression."

- Pep.ph's review for Joel Lamangan's Lihis

"Ano ang Kulay ng mga Nakalimutang Pangarap? puts such well-regarded values like family ties, loyalty, devotion, dedication and responsibility to the test, with the family home becoming a haunted courtroom of sorts as it turns into a venue for deciding the fate of the household help."

- Renelson Morelos' review for Jose Javier Reyes' Ano Ang Kulay ng mga Nakalimutang Pangarap

"The computer graphics were very well done it was very realistic... [Celso Ad Castillo's] followers did a great job spicing up this unreleased film and for that, it is worthy of its place in the National Film Fest."

- Danielle Jane Teston's review for Celso Ad Castillo's Bahay ng Lagim

"The subject is treated with sympathy and understanding. A man’s search for the true love of another man."

- Tempo.com.ph's review for Romy Suzara's Tinik

"The film explores the darker side of relationships, of love and lust, and intensifies our film experience by layering it with a coming-of-age tale that reverberates in the life of a young barrio boy, even as he reaches adulthood."

- Philip Cu Unjieng's review for Mel Chionglo's Lauriana


Press release from Film Development Council of the Philippines Media Desk
Photo courtesy of Film Development Council of the Philippines Media Desk