9 Pinoy delegates off to Busan film fest

Aljur Abrenica and Alvin Anson in

The nine Filipino delegates to the 21st Busan International Film Festival (IFF), the first recipients of the new travel assistance program of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), will fly to South Korea today.

FDCP Chair Liza Diño said the council shouldered the airfare of all the delegates and would host a Philippine Night there on Oct. 10.

“This is to celebrate the Filipino films and to introduce them and their directors to the other attendees of the filmfest. We shall also be inviting guests from other countries to the dinner,” she added.

The 2016 Busan IFF will be held starting today up to Oct. 15.

The FDCP will participate in the 2016 Asian Film Market from Oct. 8 to 11, also in Busan. “We will have a booth to showcase the films, and also do a kickoff of the ‘Shoot in the Philippines’ campaign,” said Diño.

The council will distribute a catalogue of the films released from 2015 to 2016, and it will include pertinent information of each film’s production company. “We have also asked the Animation Council of the Philippines to send their demos so we could market them there,” she added.

Diño said the council would likewise host “A Celebration of Philippine Cinema” in Manila on Oct. 18 “to pay tribute to winners of various festivals in 2016. It will be a homecoming for the Busan delegates and a send-off party for those who will participate at the Tokyo IFF.”

To coincide with the event, which will be held at the Cinematheque Center on T. M. Kalaw in Ermita, Manila, is the official launch of the new travel assistance program. “We are currently fine-tuning its implementing rules and regulations (IRR) because the board members want to give importance to those who would be representing the country to the Big Three festivals,” Diño explained, referring to the Cannes, Venice and Berlin film fests.

“Expressway” (above); scene from “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis”

The five Filipino films included in the “A Window on Asian Cinema” section of the 2016 Busan IFF are: Lav Diaz’s “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis,” Anton Juan’s “Woven Wings of Our Children,” Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s “Ma’ Rosa,” Ato Bautista’s “Expressway” and Bradley Liew’s “Singing in Graveyards.”

For the Wide Angle section, which features short films, animation, documentaries and experimental films, the Philippine representatives are: Baby Ruth Villarama’s “Sunday Beauty Queen,” Sheron Dayoc’s “The Crescent Rising,” Phil Giordano’s “Supot,” Raymund Gutierrez’s “Imago” and Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s “Amorsolo’s Dream,” which is part of the omnibus film “Art Through Our Eyes.”

Jaclyn Jose in “Ma’ Rosa”