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Festival Reports

QCinema 2015: Third Time's a Charm

System Administrator Sunday November 8, 2015
Now in its third year, QCinema has reached a key turning point, boasting more than 200 screenings of eight new features, five documentaries, and over 20 foreign films in six cinemas in three malls in Quezon City, all in 10 days. These may be modest figures by overseas standards, but in the Philippines this is a big deal. Over the years the challenge has always been to sustain a film festival — Cinemanila stopped indefinitely in 2013; Cinemalaya, though it managed to go past a controversy, had only short films in competition this year; and World Premieres, alas, continued its annual display of failure — but even more difficult is the ability to sustain a growing audience. Just on these two accounts, QCinema 2015 has made a major leap.

CINEMALAYA 11, MANILA: A TRANSITIONAL YEAR

System Administrator Sunday November 8, 2015
For it's 11th edition, the truly original "Indie Film festival" in the Philippines, Cinemalaya, had to go through a surgical operation. For the first time since its creation in 2005, there was no feature film competition, due to the withdrawal of the main financial sponsor, Antonio "Tony Boy" Cojuangco, and the lack of full budget for the production of 10 feature films, or more. As a result, only the short film competition took place this year.

The Metaphorical Portrait of Nation

System Administrator Monday October 26, 2015
The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a remote part of the Russian Federation, located in the north of Russian Asia (you can describe it as Siberia or Far North-East). This is where the third edition of Yakutsk International Film Festival was held. Previous editions had been dedicated to so-called Arctic films. This year (2015), though, the festival changed its regulations: from now on, there will be two competitions - Arctic cinema and cinema by Turk-Mongolian people which represent two sides of Yakutian identity.

Toronto International Film Festival

System Administrator Monday October 26, 2015

The Toronto International Film Festival, “a festival of festivals,” (TIFF) had its 40th edition, (September 10-20, 2015, Canada), and screened 399 films, (289 features, 110 shorts, more than in the previous year. It is considered an ideal platform for the launching of new works, Canadian and international, and this year, it yielded 132 World, 27 International, and 97 North American premieres with films from 72 countries. Six thousand one hundred and eighteen films were submitted for consideration.

NETPAC at Warsaw 2015

System Administrator Monday October 26, 2015

Asian cinema’s presence at the Warsaw Film Festival (9-18 October 2015) was relatively small. The overwhelming number of films came from Europe (mainly Poland, France and Germany). Even the US and the UK had their fair share but surprisingly there were only three from Russia.

32nd Busan International Short Film Festival

System Administrator Monday August 3, 2015
  At the 32th Busan Int’l Short Film Festival (from April 24-28, 2015, South Korea), the festival has persevered in upholding the development of the Busan film culture and industry. Each year, the BISFF invites a Guest Country to introduce their short films to understand not only their film aesthetics but also their culture. Sweden was selected this year and the audience could see short films by Ingmar Bergman and other master directors. The festival also highlighted short films made by young talented Swedish directors of the modern generation.

21st Vesoul International Festival of Asian Cinema

System Administrator Saturday July 18, 2015
 The NETPAC Jury gave its award to two films: The Monk (Mayanmar) directed by The Maw Naing. This sensitive coming-of-age tale revolves around a young monk, Zawana, who has spent most of his life in a monastery in the Burmese countryside. When his superior falls ill, Zawana is faced with the dilemma of deciding if the life of a monk is still his destiny. The jury chose it as one of its winners for its eloquence and even for its silence. It engaged the audience as participants (rather than mere witnesses)and aptly portrayed the dilemma of its protagonist, not just as a monk but as an individual. The NETPAC Prize was shared with the Taiwanese film Exit directed by Chienn Hsiang in which actress Chen Shiang-chyi gives a sensitive portrayal of a forty-something woman in who has just lost her job. Her daughter and husband are far away from home and she feels quite lonely. She must take care of her mother-in-law who is hospitalized. A young man is lying in the bed next to the old woman’s. He is seriously injured and in a coma and is apparently, just like Ling, all by himself. A bond slowly develops between the two even as he lies in coma in this story that has humanity at its heart.

My experience as a member of the NETPAC jury at the International Moscow Film Festival (21-26 June, 2015)

System Administrator Wednesday July 8, 2015
  After one of my numerous visits to the cinema, where I watched glorious movies from India, my grandfather Ziyadullo Shahidi - a famous composer who established the Tajik symphonic music, said: “Cinema is a certain school based on the idea of inattentiveness. However, the paradox is that the Indian method of “inattentiveness”, despite its triviality is less dangerous than others”. Such a “condescending” attitude of the older generation towards cinema was noticeable because of cinema’s mass and popularity during the Soviet era. Expectedly, it made an impact on me – and not only towards Indian cinema. However, times change, as do people, and as do the intellectuality / values / distinctiveness of cinema-images. I believe that Z. Shahidi would have liked the set of Asian movies which were presented at the International Moscow film festival (MIFF), and I doubt he would have repeated his thesis on cinema’s “inattentiveness”.

Bangalore International Film Festival

Aditya Friday December 19, 2014
Into its 7Image th  edition, with 170 films and over 60 guests, the Bangalore International Film Festival (BIFFES, 4-11 Decvember 2014) has gradually swelled in scope and ambition. But at the opening ceremony, Karnataka’s Chief Minister Mr Siddaramaiah wanted and promised more. A permanent BIFFES Cell, he declared, would be set up within the Karnataka Chalanchitra Academy (which organises the festival together  with the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce ) created by the Government five years ago to develop a film culture; and he also promised a Kannada Film Policy in the very near future.

Bwaya by Francis Xavier Pasion at Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival

Aditya Tuesday November 4, 2014
2009, Divina Romano lost her 12-year-old daughter, Rowena, to a salt water crocodile in the marsh-lands of Mindanao. Francis Xavier Pasion presents BWAYA(the Tagalog word for crocodile)as a simple, tragic tale about Manobo folk, who happen to have an unusual, waterborne way of life. His tale is set against the vast emptiness of their home in the Agusan Marsh. The void of the marsh—whether it be filled with empty vegetation as far as the mountains on the horizon, or merely blanketed in fog—is starkly beautiful, but a vacuum is not what Pasion wants for a story, so he populates his film with multiple layers of narrative while using a great deal of subtlety to preserve the illusion of telling a simple tale.

Interview

Supriya Suri's Interview with Muhiddin Muzaffar

Director Muhiddin Muzaffar (1) 2 Min

1. I entered the cinema through the theatre. I was an actor in our local theatre called Kanibadam, named after Tuhfa Fozilova. After working for five years, I decided to do a theatre director course. I graduated with honors and became a director. We successfully staged performances at international festivals.

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