14 Filipino films in San Francisco

NORA AUNOR (left) and Vilma Santos in “T-Bird at Ako”

The new Filipino Cinema series of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will present 14 Filipino films in San Francisco, California, from June 11 to 28. Now on its fourth year, this special series of screenings aims to showcase “the latest and greatest” in Philippine cinema, which the event’s website described as “vibrant and creative.”

Most of the 14 films in the lineup were culled from the different independent film festivals that highlight “the huge range of talent” in the country today.

Giancarlo Abrahan’s “Dagitab” and Milo Sogueco’s “Mariquina” were products of last year’s Cinemalaya.

Elwood Perez’s “Otso” and Chito Roño’s “Badil” came from the Sineng Pambansa All-Masters Edition in 2013.

Jason Paul Laxamana’s “Magkakabaung” topped last year’s New Wave section of the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Cha Escala and Wena Sanchez’s “moving” documentary on Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” “Nick and Chai,” won in last year’s QCinema (Quezon City International Film Festival).

Timmy Harn’s “Reptilia in Suburbia (Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas)” was part of Cinema One Originals in 2013, while Kanakan Balintagos’ “Esprit de Corps,” Antoinette Jadaone’s “That Thing Called Tadhana” and Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s “Lorna” were entries in last year’s Cinema One.

Genre films like a horror flick (Erik Matti’s “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”) and a teen romantic-comedy (Jadaone and Irene Villamor’s “Relaks, It’s Just Pag-Ibig”) are on the list, too.

Highlight of the series is a screening of the digitally restored 1982 film “T-Bird at Ako,” directed by Danny Zialcita and starring screen icons Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos.

Rounding out the series is Lav Diaz’s Locarno-winning epic “Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon.”

The series is curated by Philbert Ortiz Dy and Joel Shepard. The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is located on Mission Street in San Francisco. Bayani San Diego Jr.