13 September 2013 -- The Philippine Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic screened the award-winning film Himala on September 04 at the Lucerna Cinema in Prague 1. Along with four other films from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Himala was exhibited as part of the 2nd ASEAN Film Festival which was held from September on 03 to 07.
Currently on its second year, the ASEAN Film Festival in Prague is one of the major annual projects of the ASEAN Prague Committee (APC). During the Festival, each of the resident ASEAN Member Embassies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam in Prague sponsors the screening of a film from their own countries so that it can be shown to the Czech public free of charge with both English and Czech subtitles. Not only does this promote awareness of ASEAN in the Czech Republic, but it also promotes awareness of each of the individual member countries.
In his welcome remarks at the screening of Himala, Chargé d’affaires, a.i. (CDA) Juan E. Dayang, Jr. emphasized that “the ASEAN Film Festival in Prague is an opportunity to create cultural and social awareness of the ASEAN Community and its members in the Czech Republic.”
“Southeast Asian films have much to offer in terms of creativity, entertainment, and cinematic quality that could be promoted to discerning Czech movie enthusiasts, as well as, to encourage cooperation with Czech film makers who are known for their cinematography,” CDA Dayang added.
About 270 people from the diplomatic corps in Prague, the Czech government agencies, the Czech business sector, the Czech movie-going public, and the Filipino community, attended the screening of Himala. Overall, the Film Festival registered a total of about 1, 400 viewers for the five films. END
