19 March 2015 - The Philippine Consulate General, participating in the 8th Asian Film Festival in Jeddah, hosted the Philippine Movie Night on March 06 and screened the indie movie “The Bit Player” (Ekstra). The filmfest was held under the auspices of the Asian Consuls General Club (ACGC), which consists of thirteen (13) Asian countries namely Bangladesh, Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand. For this year, majority of the participating films were shown at the auditorium of the Indonesian Consul General’s residence. A short documentary story about Vigan City preceded the screening of “Ekstra”.
More than 200 guests, including diplomats, other foreign nationals and film lovers, members of the Filipino community, media people, and Consulate General personnel and their spouses attended the Philippine movie night. Upon arrival of the guests, they sampled popular Filipino fare such as the famous Purefoods tender juicy hotdogs, Jollibee burgers, pancit and guyabano juice. Philippine made food products such as chichacorn and peanuts were also distributed during the movie show, while Philippine tourism promotional brochures and mugs were handed to the guests as they left after the movie.
Philippine Consul General Leo Tito L. Ausan, Jr. welcomed the guests and thanked them for their indispensable and very much appreciated presence. He expressed special gratitude to the Consulate of Indonesia for hospitably hosting the Philippine night and the Japanese Consul General for his commendable coordinative leadership of the ACGC. Consul General Ausan underlined that this annual film festival is a genuine opportunity to showcase Philippines independent films while promoting its public and cultural diplomacy programs.
The 8th Asian filmfest commenced last February 28 at the garden residence of the Japanese Consul General in conjunction with Japan’s movie screening. It ended on March 13, with the screening of an Indonesian film and the traditional Asian Food Festival.
The Food Festival enabled all the participating countries to showcase their various native cuisines for the savoring and enjoyment of their estimated 400 guests that included diplomats, prominent Saudi personalities, members of the media and Asian expatriates.
At the Philippine food booth, the Consulate General served the famous deep-fried chicken adobo, boneless bangus (daing) with atchara, steamed rice, chicken empanada, pichi-pitchi, cassava cake and guyabano juice. The Consulate General’s offerings at the foodfest satisfied the guests, most of whom (expats and Filipinos alike) came back for extra servings. END