Liway on YouTube
KIP Oebanda’s film Liway is now streaming on the filmmaker’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVzF8xqctco). Based on the director’s childhood, the film follows a young boy named Dakip who grew up in a prison camp with his mother, anti-Marcos dissident Cecilia Flores-Oebanda, also known as Commander Liway. It stars Glaiza de Castro as Liway, Dominic Roco as Commander Toto, and Kenken Nuyad as the young Dakip. The film is on view until April.
Documentary on life after Franco
IN 1977, Spain passed an amnesty law that has come to be known as “the pact of forgetting.” It prohibits the prosecution of any crime against humanity committed during the 40-year dictatorship of General Francisco Franco for the sake of the country’s healing. But for much of the population, there is no peace in silence. From March 25 to 27, the Dokyu Power Documentary Film Festival will screen for free a film about the struggle of the victims and their families and their groundbreaking international lawsuit to fight “the pact of forgetting.” Entitled The Silence of Others, the film is a cautionary tale about fascism and the dangers of forgetting the past. It is executive produced by Pedro Almodóvar and directed by Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar. Filmed over six-years, The Silence of Others tells the story of people like José María Galante, who lives meters away from the man who tortured him. It also features the stories of families desperate to recover the bodies of their loved ones from thousands of mass graves across Spain. They are blocked by their own government from doing so. In addition to murders, forced disappearances and torture, babies belonging to opponents’ families were kidnapped to be given to political supporters. Tens of thousands of parents continue to search for their children. The Silence of Others has won more the 40 international prizes, including the 2019 Goya for Best Feature Documentary, two Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and the Panorama Audience Award and Peace Film Prize at the Berlinale. Best Feature Documentary for the 2019 Academy Awards. Screening is free via MOOV by Cinema Centenario. It may be accessed at cinemacentenario.com/dokyu-power. The Dokyu Power Documentary Film Festival kicked off on Feb. 25 and runs until April 9. A Q&A with the film directors will also be presented by the organizers on March 25, from 8 to 8:30 p.m., on the festival’s Facebook page (facebook.com/DaangDokyu).
Family issues, marital woes tackled in public service show
JULIUS Babao and Christine Bersola-Babao are now hosting their own show, Julius & Tintin: Para sa Pamilyang Pilipino, on Cignal TV’s One PH channel. It is a daily public service program where the couple give advice on relationship problems, starting from simple misunderstandings to the most complicated issues that parents and partners go through. The hosts are ready to discuss various issues in love, life, relationships, as well as their personal experience as parents, with the help of guest experts. The show airs Mondays to Fridays at 4 p.m. Tintin Bersola-Babao also teaches viewers how to budget and manage their finances on her show, Mag-badyet Tayo!, every Monday to Friday at 10 a.m. Julius Babao co-anchors the news program Frontline Pilipinas every day at 5:30 p.m.
Family Feud returns to GMA
THE Filipino franchise of Family Feud returns to GMA Network, again hosted by actor Dingdong Dantes. Directed by Treb Monteras, the game show features two families of four as they try to outsmart each other in guessing the most popular answers to survey questions. The winning team takes home P100,000 plus another P100,000 if they win in the jackpot round. Meanwhile, the losing team receives P50,000. Viewers will also get a chance to win cash prizes while watching through the “Guess to Win” promo, which is open to all Filipinos aged 18 years old and above and currently residing in the country. Participants must watch Family Feud and wait for any of three questions that will be flashed on the screen. All entries must be submitted to the website www.gmanetwork.com/FamilyFeudGuessToWin. Entries must be submitted during the airing of the show to be qualified for the electronic raffle. There will be five winners of P20,000 each per episode. Weekly winners will be posted on the program’s social media accounts. Family Feud airs from Monday to Friday at 5:45 p.m. before 24 Oras on GMA.
TNT Boys’ Mackie Empuerto tackles classic song
MACKIE Empuerto, one of the trio called TNT Boys, breathes new life into the Ryan Cayabyab classic “Can This Be Love,” his first single as a solo artist. A Smokey Mountain original, “Can This Be Love” talks about young love. Marvin Querido arranged and produced the remake under TNT Records. Coinciding with the launch of his single, the 16-year-old singer also signed a contract with ABS-CBN Music, TNT Records, and Polaris Entertainment. Mr. Empuerto was a finalist in Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids which led to his joining the TNT Boys. Aside from music, he also ventured into acting and won Best Child Actor of the Year at the Urduja Film Festival 2019 for the movie Bakwit Boys. He will continue to be a member of TNT Boys.
World Autism Awareness Day film screenings
TO HELP mark World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, a diverse selection of internationally and critically acclaimed films that share stories on the condition will be screened on select Wednesdays of April. The line-up was curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. The films are: documentary Best Kept Secret (2013) about a special education teacher in a New Jersey high school helping her graduating students with special needs reach their full potential and find their place in the real world (April 6); Life, Animated (2016), a coming-of-age documentary on how the magic of animated Disney movies serve as a language to express love, loss and brotherhood and aid a family reconnect with their son who was diagnosed with autism at the age of three (April 20); and, The Reason I Jump (2020), based on the best-selling biography by Naoki Higashida, a Japanese non-verbal person with autism (April 27). The free and public online screenings will be conducted via Zoom at noon on the scheduled dates. To register, e-mail mcad@benilde.edu.ph. For more information, visit the official Facebook page of MCAD (https://www.facebook.com/MCADManila).
