From left: Bembol Roco, Cherry Pie Picache, Jerald Napoles, Meryl Soriano, Chai Fonacier and Jess Mendoza in “Pauwi Na”
A Filipino movie will be competing in the main section of the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival in China, from June 17 to 26. Paolo Villaluna’s “Pauwi Na (Pedicab)” is vying for Shanghai’s Golden Goblet Award, along with films from Romania, Poland, Italy, the United States, Bangladesh/India, China, Japan, United Kingdom, Iran, Germany and Macedonia/Russia/Lithuania.
Villaluna told the Inquirer that “Pauwi Na” is the only Southeast Asian movie in the lineup. According to the director, lead actors Bembol Roco and Cherry Pie Picache will be attending the fest with him.
“Pauwi Na” won best actor (for Roco), best actress (for Picache), Jury Special Award for Outstanding Film, best editing, production design and story at the first ToFarm Film Festival last year. The film was inspired by an Inquirer story on a family that goes back to the province, traveling from Manila to Bicol (433.4 kilometers) in a pedicab.
Apart from “Pauwi Na” in the main competition, two other Filipino films—Avid Liongoren’s “Saving Sally” and Bradley Liew’s “Singing in Graveyards”—will be shown in “The Belt and Road” program. Baby Ruth Villarama’s docu “Sunday Beauty Queen” is in the Spectrum section.
Shanghai is one of three Asian events, along with Tokyo and Goa, that are accredited as A-list festivals by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Associations. —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.