9th Cinemanila International Film Festival

July 29, 2007

Catch renowned director Quentin Tarantino as he graces the Festival this August. Tarantino will be receiving the Lifetime Achievement award for his iconic contributions to world cinema and continued support to the proliferation and promotion of Asian and independent films. He will also be giving a lecture on filmmaking during the second of two Grindhouse Days: Directing Workshops, on 11 August at the Gateway Cineplex 10 Cinema 4.

The Cinemanila International Film Festival, now on its 9th year, will have its official run from 8 to 19 August 2007 at Gateway Mall Cineplex 10 in Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City, and from 17 to 19 August 2007 in Boracay Island. It will showcase the best of local and foreign cinema, including recent winners from the Berlin and Cannes film festivals. The Opening Ceremonies will be on 8 August at the Gateway Cinema Lobby. Cinemanila will also be having a special Focus on the films of South Africa (9 August) and Bollywood (10 August). Everyone is invited to these screenings and to the seminars and workshops. These include a seminar on the Importance of Film Archiving in the Philippines (9 August), Grindhouse Days: Directing Workshops (10-11 August), a Master Class in Scriptwriting (12 August), a Master Class in Cinematography (13 August), and a seminar on Indie Filmmaking (15-16 August). All of these seminars and workshops will be held at the Gateway Cineplex Cinema 4 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.


Competition Films (International Category)

1. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days / Cristian Mungiu (Romania, 2007) Palme d’Or 2007 Cannes International Film Festival

Director Cristian Mungiu's drama 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days unfolds in Romania in the late '80s, during the last waning days of Communist rule. Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu play, respectively, Otilia and Gabita, two female friends and students who share a Bucharest flat. They soon find themselves saddled with an overwhelming problem: Gabita is expecting. With abortion illegal in Romania at that time, the women seek an illicit termination at the hands of one Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) in a seedy Romanian hotel - but Bebe refuses to accept money in return for his services and demands a certain "alternate" commodity instead.

2. Control / Anton Corbijn (UK / USA, 2007) Official Selection Cannes 2007 Directors’ Fortnight

Directed by acclaimed music photographer Anton Corbijn and based on Deborah Curtis' "Touching from a Distance", Control is the story of the late Joy Division Singer Ian Curtis' life, from the band's rise to fame to his tragic suicide. Control documents the relationships with both of his wife and his girlfriend, his battle with epilepsy and the road to success with his band, Joy Division. With a score by New Order featuring original tracks from the 70's by Wearsaw and Joy Division.

3. The Edge of Heaven / Fatih Akin (Germany, Turkey, 2007) Official Selection Cannes 2007, In Competition. Winner – Best Screenplay

Nejat seems disapproving about his widower father Ali's choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But he grows fond of her when he discovers she sends money home to Turkey for her daughter's university studies. Yeter's sudden death distances father and son. Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter's daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea is denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Lotte travels to Turkey,where she gets caught up in the seemingly hopeless situation of freeing Ayten.

4. Ezra / Newton I. Aduaka (Nigeria / France, 2007) Sundance 2007 – Grand Jury Prize nominee, FESPACO 2007 – Grand prize Award

A Sierra Leone boy swept away from his family by rebels and forced to fight in a devastating civil war attempts to re-establish some sense of normalcy after fighting ceases and he is forced to speak before a Truth and Reconciliation Committee. Young Ezra was only seven-years old when rebels abducted him and spirited him into the jungle for military training. Seven long years have passed since that fateful day, and as Ezra struggles to recall the details of a deadly village raid which has become the subject of a Truth and Reconciliation Committee investigation, the boy's mute sister reveals a long gestating secret that puts his entire life in a whole new light. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

5. Foster Child / Brillante “Dante” Mendoza (Philippines, 2007) Official Selection Cannes 2007 Directors’ Fortnight

Thelma, together with her husband Dado and two teenage sons Gerald and Yuri belongs to an urban poor family in Manila. They are hired by a local Foster Care Facility to provide temporary home and care to abandoned babies pending their formal adoption. When Thelma's latest foster child John-John is to be handed over to his adoptive American parents, every moment with the 3-year-old becomes precious as Thelma goes through the day.

6. Irina Palm / Sam Garbarski (Belgium, 2007) Berlinale International Film Festival 2007 – Reader Jury of the “Berliner Morgenpost”

Legendary rocker Marianne Faithfull ("As Tears Go By" and Broken English Fame) stars in director Sam Garbarski's gently observed comedy-drama Irina Palm. She portrays Maggie, a 50-year-old widow - still faithful to her dead husband, desperately needs some money to pay for a medical treatment for her ill grandson. After several unfruitful attempts to find a job, Maggie finds herself roaming the streets of London Soho. Her eye is caught by a small poster in the window of a 'shop' called "Sexy World" which reads: "Hostess wanted". Too desperate and lost to realize what she does she enters. Micky, the owner, is embarrassed at first, but intrigued by Maggie, he decides to have fun and offers her the job. Under the pseudonym of Irina Palm, Maggie courageously gets to know her first anonymous customers. Micky observes his recruit. Maggie, who applies herself in order to keep her job, fascinates him. When she does something, she makes sure she does it well.

7. Love and Honor / Yoji Yamada (Japan, 2006) Official Selection Panorama Berlinale International Film Festival 2007

Yoji Yamada's torchy Japanese drama Love and Honor (a.k.a. Bushi No Ichibun) follows the heartbreaking plight of Shinnojo (Yoji Yamada), a young man employed as a "food taster" for the imperial family. Shinnojo's position comes to a sudden and tragic end when he consumes poisoned fish intended for the clan leader and is forever robbed of his sight.

8. The Namesake / Mira Nair (India / USA, 2006)

A couple coming to terms with living in a new culture discover their troubles are compounded by their son in this drama from filmmaker Mira Nair. Ashoke (Irfan Khan) and Ashima (Tabu) are a young couple who are brought together in an arranged marriage and soon leave Calcutta to seek their fortune in America.

9. Persepolis / Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud Official Selection Cannes 2007; Winner – Jury Prize (tied with “Silent Light”)

Persepolis (animated feature) is the poignant coming-of-age story of a precocious and outspoken young Iranian girl that begins during the Islamic Revolution. We meet nine-year old Marjane when the fundamentalists first take power – forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands; follow her as she cleverly outsmarts the “social guardians” and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden, while living with the terror of government persecution and the Iran/Iraq war; then on to Austria as a teenager, where her parents send her to school in fear for her safety and, she has to combat being equated with the religious fundamentalism and extremism she fled her country to escape.

10. Postmodern Life of My Aunt / Ann Hui (Hong Kong, 2006)

Ye Ye Rutang is a woman in her sixties, living in an old apartment in Shanghai. People of her generation were raised in a very different China, making her a fish out of water. Unable to hold down a job because of her old-fashioned attitude, Mrs. Ye has very little money to live on. A series of encounters with a garden-variety of characters, including a charming con-man played by Chow Yun-Fat, will change her life forever.

11. Sankara / Prasanna Jayakody (Sri Lanka, 2006) Cairo Film Festival 2006 – Silver Pyramid Award

Young Buddhist monk Ananda, arrives at a temple in order to restore its paintings. These paintings depict Thelapaththa Jathakaya, a moral story where Lord Buddha said that a man with a big target in life must not be swayed by passion (Keles), the five senses and especially beautiful women. One day, Ananda picks up a hair pin belonging to a young woman. While attempting to return this object to its owner, his repressed feelings are awoken by the beauty and sensuality of the woman. The young monk's inner spiritual world is plunged into turmoil. Then one day the paintings are destroyed. While restoring them for the second time Ananda begins to realize that he is trapped in a web of his worldly desires and attachments.

12. Shotgun Stories / Jeff Nichols (USA, 2007)

Shotgun Stories tracks a feud that erupts between two sets of half brothers following the death of their father. Set against the cotton fields and back roads of Southeast Arkansas, these brothers discover the lengths to which each will go to protect their family.

13. Where are you going Moshe? / Hassan Benjelloun (Morocco, 2007)

In the early 1960s, after Morocco’s independence from France, many of the country’s Jews clandestinely left for Israel. In Finemachiyamoshe (Where Are You Going Moshe?), the Jews of the little town of Bejjad plot their departure with the help of their rabbi. One thing, however, worries them: Will Berbeq’ha, the idiot who thinks he’s a general, leave too? Once he learns of the Jews’ plans, Mustapha, the bar-owner, panics; if all the non-Muslims leave, the Law will make him close the bar. How will he avoid such a disaster? He’ll have to hold back one Jew! That’s Hassan’s idea, anyway. He’s Mustapha’s son and lover of Rachel, Shlomo’s daughter. What will become of the Bejjad bar?