The Philippines plays host to 2015 World Premieres Film Festival 70 outstanding international films will be shown June 29 to July 7 at SM Cinemas
by Leony Garcia
Seventy outstanding films, including eight from the Philippines will be shown during the 2nd World Premieres Film Festival from June 25 to July 7, 2015 at SM Cinemas.
At a press conference on June 23, festival organizer, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, announced the Main Competition category at the Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City.
Seven (7) stunning films from all over the globe will have their international premieres in the Philippines, namely:
“Sonata For Cello” (Sonata Per A Violoncel),
“Filosofi Kopi”, “The Territory”, Son of Mine” (Gluckauf),
“The End of Love”,“Crimean” (Kirimli), and
“Three Lies” (TresMentiras).
Anna Bofarull’s“Sonata For Cello”(Spain) focuses on Julia, an elegant and renowned cellist devoted to her music. After years of intermittent pain in different parts of her body, Julia is finally given the diagnosis: fibromyalgia, a chronic medical disorder that has no known cause or cure. She soon finds herself submerged in a personal state of hell, struggling against her own body.
“Filosofi Kopi”(Indonesia) by AnggaSasongko tells a soul-searching tale about making peace with the past through coffee. Ben and Jody are two friends and owners of ‘Filosofi Kopi’, a sophisticated coffee shop known for only serving the best coffee in Indonesia. When a businessman challenges them to make “the perfect cup”, Ben and Jody embark on an adventure that forces them to visit their troubled pasts. It is a film that not only tells a captivating story, but one that will make us look at coffee with a whole new, passionate perspective.
AleksandrMelnik’s“The Territory”(Russia) takes place in 1960, a moment of immense transition in the USSR. Along the earth’s most northeastern shores of the Arctic Ocean in the centre of the vast tundra lies the ‘Territory.’ Legendary geologist IlyaChinkov is utterly convinced that gold exists in the land and must convince and inspire his brigade. As they battle against self and nature in search of gold, some continue, some fall. Individual survival and collective triumph do not always converge.
The picturesque Dutch province of Limburg is not what it seems. “Son Of Mine” (Netherlands) by Remy van Heugten is a gripping social drama about the oppressive relationship between a father and a son, who as modern outlaws struggle to survive. The story is based on Remy’s personal experiences, having grown up in this poor region of the mostly rich Netherlands. Father and a son must struggle to survive in this place where the social and economical consequences of the closing of the coal mines, many years ago, are still very much felt.
“The End of Love”(Taiwan) by Li-Da Hsu shows that love has infinite manifestations, but love itself, as many of us discover, can be finite. In the film, four relationships slowly unravel: a couple involved in social movement activism; a middle-class couple coping with infertility; an old man found his sweetheart in the elderly home; and a young man try winning a woman who was his high school teacher.
Franco’s dictatorship in 1970s Spain was a silencing, violent one—especially for women. Under church and state, his conservative regime upheld the institution of marriage at the expense of young, single mothers. In Ana Murugarren’s “Three Lies” (Spain), the clever and independent tattoo artist Violeta, who was sold as a baby during the Franco-era, challenges the remnants of the regime under which she was born as she searches for her mother and the truth.
Adapted from Crimean Tartar novelist and poet CengizDagci’s first novel“Horrible Years”, BurakCemArliel‘s“Crimean” is set during the Second World War. SadikTuran fights with the Soviet Red Army against the German Nazis—reluctantly, however, after having been oppressed as a Crimean Turk by Russian nationalism since childhood. Despite this, he emerges as a hero for his fellow Red Army soldiers, but then is taken prisoner by the Germans. When they offer to save his beloved Crimea from the Russians, Sadik must walk the tightrope as he dreams of a free Crimea.
Films in the Main Competition will vie for the following prestigious awards: Grand Festival Prize and the Grand Jury Prize, as well as awards for Best Performance by an Actor, Best Performance by an Actress, Best Artistic Contribution, Technical Grand Prize, and Best Ensemble Performance.
The Gala Premieres of all the said films will be of “free admission” on June 25-27 on a first come, first served basis at SM Mall of Asia, Cinema 6. The schedule is as follows:
Thursday, June 25, 2015
5:30 PM —The End of Love(Taiwan)
7:30 PM — The Territory(Russia)
Friday, June 26, 2015
2:00 PM —Son of Mine(Netherlands)
5:00 PM —Filosofi Kopi(Indonesia)
7:30 PM – Crimean(Turkey)
Saturday, June 27, 2015
5:00 PM — Three Lies(Spain)
7:30 PM —Sonata for Cello(Spain)
Meanwhile, the regular screenings schedule of the said films, along with the various sections of the Festival, will be from June 29 to July 7 (regular cinema tickets).
