Cinema One Originals picks brave, cool, inclusive entries
Now on its 15th year, Cinema One Originals Film Festival celebrates its milestone as it showcases an impressive mix of films exploring a wide range of subjects and stories from the archipelago.
Featuring the talents of our very own up and coming filmmakers, the most anticipated film festival will happen from November 7 to 17 in select Metro Manila theatres like Trinoma, Glorietta, Ayala Malls Manila Bay, Powerplant Makati, Cinema ’76, Cinema Centenario, Cinematheque and Cine Adarna.
According to Cinema One Head and festival director Ronald Arguelles, with its tagline “Kaya Mo?”, this year is set to be “young, authentic, brave, cool, and inclusive” as it presents a diverse selection of 8 films ranging from drama, action, comedy to romance, horror and fantasy-thriller.
During the 10-day run, the eight films in competition to be screened are as follows:
J. E. Tiglao’s “Metamorphosis”
It tells the story of Adam, who’s born with both male and female genitals. While he went through all the things that prepubescent boys go through, things take a turn when he gets his first menstrual period. He then has to go through a journey where he figures out the limits of sexual identity. The film stars Gold Aceron, Iana Bernandez, Yayo Aguila, and Ricky Davao.
Giancarlo Abrahan’s “Sila Sila”
It is about the story of a 30-year-old man who returns to the city to confront his old life, his old friends and his ex-boyfriend at their drama of the past and the present come into conflict. The film stars Topper Fabregas and Gio Gahol.
Kevin Dayrit’s O
O is a dark comedy about necrophiliac vampires who run funeral parlors, collecting blood from corpses and processing it into red meth which they sell to their kind. The film delves into the vampire drug culture and the lengths that they’re willing to go through for a fix. Lauren Young, Anna Luna, Sarah Carlos, and Jasmine Curtis-Smith star in the film.
Victor Villanueva’s Lucid
Lucid focuses on a young woman who lives a solitary life who meets a mysterious stranger who challenges her to make a dream life more adventurous.
It stars Alessandra de Rossi and JM De Guzman.
Denise O’hara’s Tayo Muna Habang Hindi Pa Tayo
“Tayo Muna Habang Hindi Pa Tayo”, a romance drama, seeks to answer the question “Can love survive even without commitment?” The movie stars Jane Oineza and JC Santos.
Eve Baswel’s “Tia Madre”
Tia Madre is a horror film told on the point-of-view of a hyper-imaginative 10-year old girl named Camille, whose mother transforms into something more sinister, violent, distant, and possibly not human. It stars Cherie Gil and Jana Agoncillo.
Dustin Celestino’s “Utopia”
Utopia follows a freelance videographer, a rookie police officer, an undercover PDEA agent who all get caught in the labyrinth of the city’s crime scene all because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It stars Joem Bascon, Arron Villaflor, and Enzo Pineda.
Nigel Santos’s “Yours Truly, Shirley”
Yours Truly, Shirley is about a widow who tries to escape reality by imagining that the famous pop star in the country is the reincarnation of her dead husband. The movie features Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquea-Alcasid in her first independent film.
The biggest C1 Originals yet, the festival is part of the centennial celebration of the Philippine Cinema and the 25th year celebration of leading cable channel Cinema One.
The 15th Cinemaone Originals filmfest runs from November 7-17.
