1 August 2013 - Three young Filipino independent (“indie’) filmakers participated in the 13th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in Poland and regarded as one of the most important film events in Central Europe, which was held in Wloclaw from July 18 to 28.
The filmmakers were Ms, Shireen Seno with her film “Big Boy;” Mr. John Torres with his film “Lukas the Strange;” and Mr. Sherad Sanchez with his film “Jungle Love.” Although he was not able to attend the festival, the film of Mr. Lav Diaz titled “Norte” was also shown during the event.
Among all countries of Asia, only the films from the Philippines and Japan were chosen to be featured in this annual filmfest.
The descriptions of the featured Filipino films, according to the website of the 13th T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival are the following:
Big Boy, dir. Shireen Seno/Philippines 2012/89’
Cast: Ian Lomongo, Pam Miras, John Lloyd Evangelista
Film Description:
“In the 1950s, the Philippines had just been de-colonized and, on some smaller islands, you could sometimes still find a parachute with American aid hanging from a tree. It was a time when Filipinos were excited about the coming changes; they wanted a new and better life. This includes Julio’s parents, who earn a living through the home production of cod-liver oil. The amazing recipe stimulates height growth among the naturally short Philippine children and Julio is to be the walking ad for the family business. Each day at sunrise, he is fed this mixture and stretched in variously creative ways. Big Boy looks like an authentic home movie from the 1950s found in the attic. It is perfect retro styling by Shireen Seno, who managed to make a film today and add archival music from the time. Just as surprising is the fact that this intimate, sensual and, it would seem, very personal film, which is a trip into the lost corners of childhood, does not illustrate her personal memories, but those the director collected from others. It is a collective image of a generation’s childhood stretched together from family conversations and the stories of parents, uncles, and aunts.”
Lukas the Strange, dir. John Torres/Philippines/2013/85’
Cast: Cheeno Dalog Ladera, Edilberto
Film Description:
“Standing on the threshold of maturity, Lukas learns that his father might have been half-man, half-horse. The man he believed to his father disappears and a film crew appears in his town. Casting for a father-figure begin. Viewers are guided through these amazing events by a female voice, who anticipates and comments on their progression. Who is the narrator and what connects her to the boy? A dream-like image by John Torres that resembles a legend in which an element of magic combines with realism, revealing Philippine myths and beliefs. Tape burned by the sun and the creaking of an old camera reveal the seams of the presentation and direct Lukas the Strange toward a film about a film. Torres creates a work for those who are not afraid of cinema experiments. Viewers must tease the meaning out on their own and arrange something akin to their own story.”
Jungle Love, dir. Sherad Anthony Sanchez/Philippines/2012/85’
Cast: Gloria Morales, Mei Bastes, Martin Riffer, Edgardo Amar, Aldrin Sapitan
Film Description:
“In fairy tales, the road to freedom is to the forest where witches prowl, wolves eat children, highwaymen and ghosts lurk. The forest symbolizes the dangerous side of the subconscious and its destructive potential. In Jungle Love, when the heroine kidnaps a child, leaving the village and escaping into the jungle, she departs the rational world and ventures into supernatural territory. She finds bivouacking hipsters (lost on a trip and in life), prowling soldiers and wandering villagers looking for God-knows-what. Under the oppressive weight of stagnant air and the sun burning through leaves overhead, among the buzzing of insects and screeching of birds, it is easy to see phantoms and lose your head. Are there blue people lurking in the trees? Are these mythical, unspoiled tribes on the spirits of the dead? Trance music magnifies the overwhelming sensation of tropical fever. In the jungle, out of time, beyond society and civilisation, inhibitions fall away and the sweaty, tattooed bodies of the protagonists experience forbidden desires and aggressive fantasies. Men and women behave like wild animals, while the endless jungle silently devours everything.”
Norte, the End of History, dir. Lav Diaz/Philippines 2013/250’
Cast: Archie Alemania, Angeli Bayani, Soliman Cruz, Angelina Kanapi, Sid Lucero, Hazel Orencio, Mae Paner
Film Description:
“Norte, the end of History is a mythical journey through crime and punishment. Lav Diaz, a director well-known to viewers of last year’s New Horizons Festival, again takes on the role of a patient observer, watching others who are confronted with drastic and ground-breaking events. In a modest history written about a few protagonists hides a metaphor for the fate of the Philippines - a country’s ‘skewered’ by war, violence, instability and drama from generation to generation. Cruel crimes, a disrupted sense of justice, evil within reach, guilt that cannot be washed away. All of this touches the protagonists, unhappily intertwining with blind fate. A fate that pushes people into the wrong place at the wrong time, embroiling them in a spiral of tragic events.” Established in 2001, the T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival “presents uncompromising, innovative and original cinema from all over the world that explores new horizons in film language, expression and storytelling.” The “festival has four (4) competitive sections and is accredited by FIPRESCI asnd by FISPF as a Competitive Specialized Feature Film Festival.” END