Filipino Filmmakers Showcase Films in Vientianale 2018

Mr. Jon Lazam (right) and Mr. Carlo Manatad (center) introduce their films during the screening of S Express Philippines entries on 17 March 2018 at the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism’s Department of Cinema

23 March 2018 VIENTIANE — The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane, Lao PDR and the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) sponsored the participation of award-winning Philippine filmmakers Mr. Jon Lazam and Mr. Carlo Manatad in the Vientianale International Film Festival 2018 in Vientiane, Laos held from March 15-18.

Lazam’s “Three Enchantments” and Manatad’s “Fatima Marie Torres” and the “Invasion of Space Shuttle Pinas 25” were part of the collection under S Express Philippines, which also included Dani Chuatico’s “Outside” and Dodo Dayao’s “If You Leave.” “Three Enchantments” is about a travel account of a foreigner in the early 1900s, and recounts people “growing and dying in dull routine”. Meanwhile, “Fatima Marie Torres and the “Invasion of Space Shuttle Pinas 25” depicts the life of an old couple amidst the launch of the first Philippine space shuttle.

The Philippine short films were screened at the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism’s (MICT) Cinema Department on March 17, where the filmmakers were able to answer questions from the audience regarding their films.

The Vientianale International Film Festival is an annual festival that features full-length and short films from various countries. For 2018, Vientianale screened more than 100 short films from over 30 countries. END

For more information, visit www.vientianepe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/philippineembassy.vientiane.54?fref=search

The filmmakers with Embassy personnel and members of the Filipino Community at the screening of the Philippine entries in the Vientianale International Film Festival 2018