The Best of Asian Cinema: 3rd Asia On Screen Film Festival
September is more than just a signal to the start of the Philippine Christmas season; it’s also the cue for the country’s different film festivals to showcase the best films in and around the country. One such film festival is the Asia On Screen Film Festival, running from September 15 – 18, 2016.
ASIA-PACIFIC’S BEST. Take in the cultures from the Asia Pacific region at the Asia On Screen Film Festival.
The Asia On Screen Film Festival takes some of the Asia Pacific’s best films that showcase some of the region’s most talented actors and filmmakers that most Filipinos have not laid their eyes on. Each of the films tells a tale that’s different from the next, with topics ranging from forbidden love and coming-of-age dramas to survival stories and epic historical tales.
Festival organizer Asia Society Philippines invited the press to a free screening of one of the featured films for this year’s Asia On Screen Film Festival: China’s A Tale of Three Cities.
LOVE IN THE MIDST OF WAR. Can you find the courage to love (and keep it going) in the middle of a war?
Based on the true story of actor Jackie Chan’s parents, A Tale of Three Cities talks about the love between Yuerong, a struggling young widow with two daughters, and Daolong, a widowed former river checkpoint officer with two sons, and how it has survived in a war-torn 1950s China.
Asia Society Philippines Executive Director Suyin Liu Lee spoke before the press screening, saying “Asia Society Philippines presents Asia On Screen as a creative and visceral form of fulfilling its mission of fostering relationships among peoples and countries.”
Joining the press screening was newly-appointed Film Development Council of the Philippines’ chairperson Liza Diño, who expressed their support for the Asia On Screen Film Festival and Asia Society of the Philippines’ film-related projects.
The festival will also show Brillante Mendoza’s Taklub, recipient of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It tells the tale of how the lives of three Yolanda survivors from Tacloban – Bebeth, Larry, and Erwin – become intertwined in their search for their dead, all while trying to keep their sanity intact and preserving what little faith they have left.
DIRECTOR’S DIALOUGE. Direk Pepe Diokno was also on hand for the press screening. He will be at the Director’s Dialogue on September 15 at the Asian Institute of Management.
Filipino director Pepe Diokno’s Above the Clouds and Thailand director Nithiwat Tharatorn’s Teacher’s Diary will be participating in the festival’s kick-off event: Director’s Dialogue happening at the Aisian Institute of Managemant on September 15 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. This free event will have Diokno and Tharatorn talking about the opportunities and challenges for filmmakers in Southeast Asia, particulary in the Philippines and Thailand.
Diokno’s Above the Clouds will open the festival on September 15. Above the Clouds is the story of how 15-year-old Andy (whose parents died in a flood) and his estranged grandfather find peace after a journey up one of the mountains found in Mountain Province.
Other films that will be shown are Tanna (Australia), Ghayal Once Again (India), In the Absence of the Sun (Indonesia), Miss Hokusai (Japan), Front Line (Korea), The Journey (Malaysia), 7 Letters (Singapore), Heart Attack (Thailand), and On the Peaceful Peak (Vietnam).
The festival will run from September 15 – 18, 2016 at the Greenbelt 3 Cinema 3, Makati City. Tickets are available at sureseats.com or at the Greenbelt Cinema box office at only P100 per screening, except for Taklub and Front Line, which will be shown free of charge.
For more information, you can get in touch with Asia Society through email (info@asiasociety.org.ph) or call 02-550-2612. Stay updated with the Asia On Screen Festival through the Facebook event page (Asia On Screen 2016) or through their Facebook page (Asia Society Philippines).
Details:
What: Asia On Screen Film Festival
When: September 15 – 18, 2016
Where: Cinema 3, Greenbelt Cinema, Greenbelt 3, Makati City
Tickets are at P100, available at Greenbelt 3 Cinema box office or at http://sureseats.com/
