INTERNATIONAL and local films that are must-sees, that thrill, raise awareness, or spur the imagination are to be screened in the 2019 version of the QCinema International Film Festival (QCinema)<\/p>\n
Considered as a flag-carrying international film festival in the country, QCinema will feature cinematic treasures from October 13 to 22, 2019 at the Gateway Mall, Ayala Trinoma, Robinsons Galleria, UPFI Cine Adarna, Cinema 76 Anonas, and Cinema Centenario.<\/p>\n
Opening and Closing Film\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Leading the roster are two much-awaited Asian titles. Sigrid Bernardo\u2019s\u00a0Untrue\u00a0is QCinema\u2019s opening film while\u00a0Wet Season, by Singaporean director Anthony Chen, will officially close the festival.<\/p>\n topbills the festival opener by Bernardo who is the director of the indie hit, Kita Kita. The Hooq-produced Wet Season is Chen\u2019s follow-up to his critically- acclaimed film, Iloilo.<\/p>\n A Rising Wave\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n QCinema 2019 focuses on the strides Asian filmmakers have been making in world cinema, with Asian filmmakers bagging the Palm d\u2019 Or award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival for two consecutive years.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the theme recognizes the growing number of women filmmakers participating in competitions for documentaries and short films. To add, this year\u2019s QCinema sections have female-centric themes.<\/p>\n As one of the leading festivals in Southeast Asia, QCinema is the launching pad for the world premieres, not only for the three Filipino features in the Asian Next Wave competition, but also for new local shorts & documentaries, who all received grants from QCinema, where filmmakers own the rights to their films.<\/p>\n Local Film Grantees\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n QCinema recently relaunched its main competition, AsianNext Wave, to include three Filipino titles which each received a P1,500,000 seed grant: Arnel Barbarona\u2019s\u00a0Kaaway sa Sulod,\u00a0Babae at Baril\u00a0by Rae Red,and\u00a0The Cleaners\u00a0by Glenn Barit, which is his debut feature.<\/p>\n The QCShorts lineup features\u00a0Judy Free\u00a0by Jean Cheryl Tagyamon;\u00a0Tokwifi\u00a0by Carla Pulido Ocampo; Here, Here by Joanne Cesario;\u00a0SPID\u00a0by Alejo Barbaza and Mervine Aquino;\u00a0Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss\u00a0by Sonny Calvento; and\u00a0Isang Daa\u2019t Isang Mariposa\u00a0by Norvin De los Santos. The six filmmakers each received P200,000 production grants in the shorts competition.<\/p>\n Three new Filipino documentary features, recipients of post-production grants of P500,000 each, will premiere in the section, DocQC. They are\u00a0For My Alien Friend (by Jet Leyco),\u00a0A is for Agustin (Grace Pimentel Simbulan) and\u00a0Spring by the Sea\u00a0(Aleia Garcia).<\/p>\n International Selections\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Five other films will showcase Asian talents at the Asian Next Wave. These are\u00a0Nakorn-Sawan\u00a0(by Puangsoi Aksornsawang, Thailand);\u00a0Ave Maryam\u00a0(Robby Ertanto, Indonesia);\u00a0Fly By Night (Zahir Omar, Malaysia),\u00a0The Long Walk (Mattie Do, Laos) and\u00a0Suburban Birds (Sheng Qiu, China).<\/p>\n Most of the directors are slated to attend their gala screenings.<\/p>\n Three critically-acclaimed Asian docs round up the non-competitive documentary section with\u00a0The Future Cries Beneath Our Soil\u00a0(Pham Thu Hang, Vietnam);\u00a0Talking About Trees\u00a0(Suhaib Gasmelbari, Sudan) and\u00a0Kabul, City in the Wind\u00a0(Aboozar Amini, Afghanistan).<\/p>\n In Screen International, awarded titles from Cannes and Berlin will receive their Philippine premieres. They are\u00a0Beanpole\u00a0(Kantemir Balagov);\u00a0By The Grace of God\u00a0(Fran\u00e7ois Ozon);\u00a0Nina Wu\u00a0(Midi Z) ;\u00a0Bacurau,\u00a0(Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho & Juliano Dornelles);\u00a0Frankie\u00a0(Ira Sachs),\u00a0Synonyms\u00a0(Nadav Lapid),\u00a0The Whistlers\u00a0(Corneliu Porumboiu),\u00a0God Exists Her Name is Petrunya\u00a0(Teona Mitevska),\u00a0On A Magical Night\u00a0(Christophe Honore) and\u00a0High Life\u00a0(Claire Denis).<\/p>\n The Special Screenings section will showcase\u00a0Lingua Franca\u00a0(Isabel Sandoval);\u00a0Dogs Don\u2019t Wear Pants\u00a0(J.-P. Valkeap\u00e4\u00e4);\u00a0Top End Wedding\u00a0(Wayne Blair);\u00a0No Data Plan\u00a0(Miko Revereza);\u00a0The Cave\u00a0(Tom Waller);\u00a0Krabi, 2562\u00a0(Ben Rivers and Anocha Suwichakornpong); A Girl Missing, which is presented by Japan Foundation (Koji Fukada); and recent Locarno winner,\u00a0Vitalina Varela\u00a0(Pedro Costa).<\/p>\n A special program of Australian short films,\u00a0Flickerfest, rounds up this section with\u00a0two filmmakers visiting from Down Under.<\/p>\n This year, QCinema introduces a new section. New Horizons is a platform for debut films or second features from around the world. It explores a range of genres such as\u00a0The Bare Necessity(Erwan De Luc);\u00a0Buoyancy\u00a0(Rodd Rathjen);\u00a0Homeward\u00a0(Nariman Aliev);\u00a0The Red Phallus\u00a0(Tashi Gyeltshen);\u00a0Chola\u00a0(Sanal Kumar Sasidharan; and\u00a0System Crasher\u00a0(Nora Fingscheidt).<\/p>\n Top End Wedding, Flickerfest Shortfilms, and\u00a0Buoyancy\u00a0are sponsored by the Australian Embassy.<\/p>\n Continuing its partnership with FDCP in promoting equality and representation, QCinema will screen six films representing the LGBTQ spectrum in the section, RainbowQC. These are Venice Queer Lion winner\u00a0Jose (Li Cheng)<\/strong>;\u00a0Song Lang\u00a0(Leon Le);\u00a0Port Authority\u00a0(Danielle Lessovitz);\u00a0Where We Belong\u00a0(Kongdej Jaturanrasamee);\u00a0And Then We Danced\u00a0(Levan Akin); and the Berlinale Teddy awardee,\u00a0Brief Story from the Green Planet\u00a0(Santiago Loza).<\/p>\n Part of the centennial celebration of Philippine cinema are two QCinema sections reflecting the rich heritage of classic and mainstream works by major directors, including the country\u2019s national artists for film.<\/p>\n Centenial Classics will feature digitally restored films by ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project and FDCP. Part of the list are\u00a0Biyaya ng Lupa\u00a0(Manuel Silos);\u00a0Malvarosa\u00a0(Gregorio Fernandez);\u00a0Insiang and Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag\u00a0(Lino Brocka);\u00a0Noli Me Tangere\u00a0(Gerardo de Leon); and\u00a0Tisoy\u00a0(Ishmael Bernal).<\/p>\n A Special Life Achievement Award will be presented to Vicente del Rosario Jr., who established Viva Entertainment as one of the main, enduring pillars in the entertainment industry for more than fifty years.<\/p>\n QCinema is presenting the section, Viva Classics, in recognition of his outstanding contributions of \u201cBoss Vic\u201d, as he is fondly called, to the industry. Three of the previous decades\u2019 well-loved hits will be shown here:\u00a0Bituing Walang Ningning\u00a0(Emmanuel H. Borlaza);\u00a0Scorpio Nights 2\u00a0(Erik Matti); and\u00a0Working Girls\u00a0(Ishmael Bernal).<\/p>\n For more information and updates,\u00a0visit\u00a0qcinema.ph<\/a><\/p>\n