Pinoy films take spotlight at 7th Sinehan Sa Summer in New York

Avid moviegoers, film buffs, and wannabe critics gathered once again and reveled in Filipino films during the week-long Sinehan sa Summer organized by the Philippine Consulate General New York at the Philippine Center last August 11 to 15,  2014.
 
During the opening, Consul General Mario L. De Leon echoed movie pundits’ observation that the recent years have been considered as the renaissance of Philippine cinema.  He cited Filipino films that are being recognized by international award-giving bodies and are doing the rounds of festival circuits around the world.  In New York alone, some Filipino filmmakers whose works have been featured in film festivals around the city including Lav Diaz at the Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art are becoming favorites of film connoisseurs and are filling up venues SRO.
 
At the premiere night, co-sponsored by the Alumni Associations of Ateneo, De La Salle University, and Assumption College, the audience were treated to Eddie Romero’s 1976 classic “Ganito Kami Noon Paano Kayo Ngayon.”

Overwhelmed with an abundance of submissions, the festival showcased 20 short films shown over two nights dedicated for shorts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both were sponsored by youth organizations JCI Philippine New York, UniPro, and Legacy NY.
 
The screening committee found that there was a recurring theme in many of the 3- to 20-minute films: the immigrant life and the Filipino diaspora.  Some of the movies told stories of settling into a new home country such as the opening pre-feature documentary “To Manong Carlos”. “The Houseband’s Wife” tackles the social costs of having an OFW mother, while “Ins and Outs” is a humorous take on a day-in-the-life of immigration police officers.  The entries came from all over, too. “Erintes” was submitted from Hungary by Filipino Erasmus scholar Panx Solajes; “Mabuhay Ang Pilipinas” by director Bor Ocampo came all the way from Australia where part of it was filmed.
 
A Q&A session followed the two short films screenings, where filmmakers came to entertain queries from the audience.  Festival Screening committee members Fiel Zabat (award-winning production designer) and film producer and writer Gil Quito moderated each of the days and had a lively discourse of comments, reviews, reveries, and musings with the fans and panelists.
 
The Filipino independent film movement also has seen a steep rise during the recent years, and the festival took note of this trend by featuring two indies.  “Ang Huling Cha Cha Ni Anita” (Anita’s Last Cha Cha), a big winner in acting awards during the first Cine Filipino Festival in the Philippines, was a crowd pleaser with the audience and the partner organization Philippine American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM).  “Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong” (The Road to Kalimugtong), which garnered 8 wins and 17 nominations from local and international award-giving bodies with its heart-wrenching story of rural children’s struggle to go to school, struck a chord with the viewers, mostly from co-sponsor Association of Filipino Teachers in America (AFTA).  A simple cocktail reception and fellowship preceded the indie night screenings.
 
Permissions for films from the Philippines were provided by ABS-CBN, Kapatid 5 TV, Unitel Pictures, CineFilipino and Film Development Council of the Philippines.
 
The complete lineup of films may be accessed from the Consulate’s Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PHConsulateNY. —Press Release