Two PH films in Geneva fest

“The Sister”

Two Filipino films will be featured in the Black Movie International Independent Film Festival ongoing in Geneva, Switzerland, until Jan. 29.

Included in the “To Be Followed” section, Joseph Israel Laban’s “The Sister” is competing for two honors: the Critics’ Award and the Audience Prize. The Black Movie website describes the “To Be Followed” category as “the festival’s beacon section.”

In “The Sister,” a woman repatriates the body of her sibling, who worked as a domestic helper abroad, in the middle of the Moriones festival in Marinduque.

The site relates that “The Sister” showcases “an alarming … strange Easter ritual in which people wear brightly colored masks and Roman robes.”

It commends the film for giving viewers a glimpse of “the astonishing Moriones” tradition, which happens on a “heavenly Filipino island” and for the “bewitching original soundtrack.”

“The Sister” previously brought home prizes from two international film festivals: best cinematography (for Marco Felipe Villas Lopez) in Harlem and best actress (for Sue Prado) in Guam. It also competed at the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, Pepe Diokno’s “Kapatiran” is included in the Black Movie fest’s “Abuse of Power” category.

“Kapatiran,” which exposes the violent initiation practices in an elitist law school, “illustrates the corruption of clan-ruled Manila.”

This section features “directors [who] pinpoint excesses of power in all shapes and sizes, from general to individual corruption, from arbitrary decision-making to influence peddling.”

The Black Movie event is a “pioneering film festival with no hang-ups.” According to its site, the fest “resolutely swims against the tide of conventional movie fare.”

The 10-day festival, which features emerging talents and established filmmakers from Asia, Africa and Latin America, aims “to reflect current aesthetic and social trends via a thematic approach.”

It explains that “each section is organized around social topics or current affairs, popular cinema, new urban cultures, genres or filmmakers.” It likewise presents a section that is especially dedicated to children.