Che Ramos (second from left), Kristoffer King (third from left) and Jess Mendoza (fourth from left) in “Purgatoryo”
Roderick Cabrido’s “Purgatoryo” was invited to four film festivals in Europe recently.
First stop for the QCinema movie was the 14th Jameson CineFest Miskolc International Film Festival, which ran until Sept. 17 in Hungary. The Miskolc fest aims “to bring the freshest and most outstanding” films to Central Europe.
Cabrido’s film was also part of the Next Door section of the 22nd Split International Festival of New Film, held recently in Croatia.
According to its website, the Split fest “is open to new, creative, innovative, personal, radical and subversive works…of all lengths and genres.”
Its program consists of products of the world’s best festivals.
“Purgatoryo” also vied for the top prize at the recent 23rd L’Etrange Festival, held in Paris, France.
The Paris fest, which features filmmakers “seeking new paths,” awarded two honors: the Grand Prix and the Audience Award.
The fest’s website describes Cabrido’s work “as a new bomb from the Philippines,” which comes quick on the heels of Khavn de la Cruz’s films (“Alipato,” “Ruined Heart”), which were earlier shown in the same event.
The fest’s website hails Cabrido as “a rising star in Southeast Asian cinema” and “Purgatoryo” as “sumptuous… [proving that] genre movies can be at once social, intelligent, original and damned efficient.”
Highlight of the Filipino film’s European tour is the 50th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Catalonia, Spain, from Oct. 5 to 15.
Sitges is widely regarded as “one of the world’s foremost international festivals specializing in fantasy and horror films.”
According to the fest’s website, Cabrido’s film, which will compete in the Noves Vision Plus Inauguration section, “evokes Dante’s purgatory.”
The section focuses on films that “delve into new formal, conceptual and narrative channels.”
Cabrido told the Inquirer: “To be chosen by these festivals is a big honor and privilege. It will promote not only our film, but the country, as well.”