Two films on PH in San Francisco

Kohki Hasei’s “Blanka”

Two films, directed by foreigners but featuring Filipino stories, are included in the lineup of the CAAMFest, spearheaded by the Center for Asian American Media, in San Francisco, California. Previously known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the CAAMFest will be held from March 9 to 19.

Malaysian filmmaker Bradley Liew’s “Singing in Graveyards” and Japanese director Kohki Hasei’s “Blanka” will be shown at the CAAMFest, considered the “largest showcase for new Asian-American and Asian films” in the United States.

In the fest’s website, critic Jason Nou describes Liew’s film as “a dramatic story with imaginative elements that detail the hardship musicians endure on and off the stage.”

Nou praises the performance of the lead actor, Filipino rock icon Pepe Smith: It “adds authenticity and self-ridicule, [in light of his] experience in the music industry. Smith’s fans will surely enjoy watching his music come alive on the big screen.”

Meanwhile, critic Cher Padua calls “Blanka” a “picaresque tale” about a “hardened street kid” played by Filipino YouTube sensation Cydel Gabutero in her big-screen debut. Padua sums up the film as “a wistful exploration of the realities of slum life without being weighed down by melodrama.”

The Center for Asian American Media is “a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian-American experiences to the broadest audience possible.”

Pepe Smith in Bradley Liew’s “Singing in Graveyards”