THE 14th run of the Cinema One Originals Festival, titled “I am Original,” will showcase nine original feature films, six international films, 12 original short films, and two restored classics.
“All the films were chosen because we see something different in them,” Ronald Arguelles, Cinema One Originals festival director and channel head said in Filipino of the nine feature films, during the launch on Oct. 2 at the ELJ Bldg., in Quezon city.
“Cinema One Originals is a platform to discover new directors and writers who create unique stories which are different from those that have been produced,” he added.
The films will be shown in selected cinemas from Oct. 12 to 21.
“[The festival] celebrates individuality and the uniqueness of the voice of the filmmaker,” Mr. Arguelles told BusinessWorld shortly after the press launch.
The nine original feature films are:
• A Short History of a Few Bad Things. Described as a “serious comedy” by its director Keith Deligero, the movie, set in Cebu, is about a police detective who becomes obsessed in solving a series of murders no one is interested in investigating.
• Asuang by Raynier Brizuela is a mockumentary about Asuang, the God of Sin from Bikolano mythology, who, in a attempt to change his branding as a social media god, tries to save the world.
• Bagyong Bheverlyn by Charliebebs Gohetia is a comedy about a woman who has just had a bad breakup. When an upcoming super typhoon is about to hit the country, she realizes that it is her misery and tendency to express “hugot” quotes caused it. To save the country, she needs to find true happiness.
• Double Twisting Double Back by Joseph Abello follows Badger, who aims to be the best gymnast in the country and works hard to impress her trainer. She goes out of her way to outperform her best friend Wasi.
• Hospicio, a satirical horror movie by Bobby Bonifacio, focuses on a drug addict who is in the Hospicio Nueva Vida. The patient enters the facility after her younger sister takes a bullet meant for her. But instead of helping patients recover, the facility is said to be a dangerous place.
• Mamu and a Mother Too, by Rod Singh, is about a middle-aged transgender sex worker and how she goes through life-changing circumstances when she takes responsibility for her transgender niece.
• Never Tear Us Apart (original title was Fisting) Director Whammy Alcazaren describes it as “portrait of a modern family.” The film follows Q, a spy who embarks on a final mission in search for the mysterious Shadow that may have taken his son and infected his wife.
• Pang MMK by John “Sweet” Lapus is based on a featured Maalaala Mo Kaya story from 20 years ago. It begins where the episode left off — a father leaving his family behind — and follows the son who had to take charge of his estranged father’s funeral and deal with chaos and drama as they reconnect as a family.
• Paglisan, an animated dramedy musical by Carl Joseph Papa, is about a middle-aged movie star who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and finds himself living in seclusion with his unhappy wife.
The international films to be shown in the festival are: Jia Zhang-Ke’s Ash is Purest White (China); Lukas Dhont’s Girl (Belgium), Marcelo Martinessi’s The Heiresses (Paraguay), Desiree Akhavan’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post (US/UK), Kim Yang-hee’s The Poet and the Boy (South Korea), and Kevin Macdonald’s Whitney (US/UK).
The festival will also screen two restored classics: Lupita Aquino-Kashiwahara’s Minsa’y Isang Gamu-gamo (1976) and Frank Gray, Jr.’s Omeng Satanasia (1977).
The nine films will be shown at the following cinemas: TriNoma, Glorietta, Gateway, Santolan Town Plaza, and Powerplant; at SM Cinelokal theaters in SM North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa; and in the alternative cinemas FDCP Cinematheque Manila, Up Cine Adarna, Cinema ’76, Black Maria Theater, and Cinema Centenario.
Tickets cost P200 in the major and alternative cinemas and P150 at the SM CineLokal theaters. Students pay P150 in all cinemas. Festival passes are available ktx.abs-cbn.com. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

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