Acclaimed Philippine Indie Films Close Sinehan sa Summer 2017
Talkback for Shorts Night moderated by young Fil-Am director Paolo Bitanga (1st from right)
08 September 2017 NEW YORK – Sinehan sa Summer 2017’s Closing Week featured first-ever showings in New York of a pair of critically-acclaimed Philippine Independent Films – “Kusina” (The Kitchen) starring popular thespian Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo and “Purok 7” the award-winning debut feature film of Carlo Obispo.
The well-attended screenings of Kusina and Purok 7 closed out another successful run of the Sinehan sa Summer, a flagship program of the Philippine Consulate General in New York aimed at promoting greater awareness of Philippine cinema and emerging Filipino and Filipino-American filmmakers.
Kusina, a memory film replete with a nostalgic look at a housewife and household in rural Philippines through several decades earned well-deserved applause at the end of the screening on 29 August 2017. The joint directorial effort of David Corpuz and Cenon Obispo Palomares, the film debuted at the 2017 Cinemalaya Film Festival.
The Festival’s closing night film on 30 August, Purok 7, a Cinemalaya entry in 2013, was likewise well-received. It received the ASEAN Spirit award and Best Film at the Lucas International Film Festival for Children and Young People as well as a slew of nominations at the Orlando Film Festival, Hamburg Film Festival, and Calgary International Festival.
The entire month of August, film lovers were treated to screenings of the classic “Pagdating Sa Dulo”, award-winning Indie Film “Dagitab”, two nights of short films screenings featuring up and coming filmmakers, and the closing week celebrating independent cinema.
During her Closing Night remarks, Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega thanked all the filmmakers, producers, supporters, sponsors, the audience and the Programming Committee for making the 2017 edition of Sinehan sa Summer possible. She promised an exciting and diverse slate of films for the next festival in 2018.
For more information, visit www.newyorkpcg.dfa.gov.ph / www.newyorkpcg.org or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinNY/. END
Consul General Theresa Dizon-De Vega (center) with Sinehan Programming Committee members and young Fil-Am filmmakers at Shorts Night (photos by NYPCG)