THE DARK comedy Marupok AF (Where Is The Lie?), which is based on a true story about online dating that went viral on Twitter, will be the opening film of the 19th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. The 85-minute drama directed by Quark Henares will have its Philippine premiere at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) on Aug. 4.

In Marupok AF, EJ Jallorina plays transwoman and hopeless romantic Janzen Torres who matches with heartthrob Theo Balmaceda, played by Royce Cabrera. From there, the story devolves into an elaborate web of lies and deceit, with Maris Racal’s scheming Beanie Landridos pulling the strings.

The Cinemalaya film festival will run from Aug. 4 to 13, at the PICC and the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Black Box Theater.

IN COMPETITION
Ten full-length films are in competition at this year’s festival. They are:

• Ang Duyan ng Magiting by Dustin Celestino, which is a collection of interwoven stories about life and violence in the Philippines, following a college professor, a university chancellor, a social worker, a police chief, two students, two mothers, and a lawyer. It stars award-winning actress Dolly de Leon, who plays the social worker.

• As If It’s True by John Rogers, about a fading social media influencer (played by Ashley Ortega) and struggling musician (Khalil Ramos) who exploit each other in a not-so-fake relationship.

• Bulawan nga Usa (Golden Deer), by Iloilo-based filmmaker Kenneth De la Cruz, follows a man who embarks on a soul-stirring journey to a mystical mountain to look for the golden deer. Instead, he develops a friendship with a mountain boy.

• Gitling by Jopy Arnaldo follows a Filipina translator (Gabby Padilla) and a middle-aged Japanese director (Ken Yamamura) who test the limits of language and understanding while creating a film’s subtitles.

• Huling Palabas by Ryan Espinosa Machado, which follows a 16-year-old boy in search of his long-lost father, whose life changes when two movie-like characters appear in his hometown.

• Iti Mapukpukaw by Carl Joseph E. Papa, is a Filipino-Ilocano rotoscope animated film, and is the first animated film to be included in the feature-length competition. In the film, Eric is a man who lives a rather normal life working as an animator in the Philippines. However, he doesn’t have a mouth.

• Maria by She Andes, is a documentary which focuses on three women named Maria after the bloodbath of Duterte’s drug war.

• Rookie, by Samantha Lee and Natts Jadaone, is a romantic comedy centered on an LGBTQ+ couple. It follows Ace at her new school and her journey joining the volleyball team and falling for the team captain Jana.

• Tether by Gian Arre is about an arrogant playboy and a timid young woman who discover that any kind of pleasure or pain they inflict on themselves can be felt simultaneously by the other person.

• When This Is All Over by Kevin Mayuga is about a disconnected, desperate guy who forges a deal with a group of privileged misfits to plan a secret party at the height of a global pandemic.

VISIONS OF ASIA MAKES A COMEBACK
The Visions of Asia, one of the main components of Cinemalaya, returns this year with the screenings of five award-winning Asian indie films from Azerbaijan, Iran, India, Tajikistan, and Bangladesh.

Last year’s Visions of Asia section had to be put on hold due to the limited venue capacity due to the ongoing renovations of the CCP’s Little Theater. This year, screenings of award-winning Asian films return in the 19th edition of Cinemalaya as it is being held in more expansive venues, namely the PICC and the CCP Black Box Theater.

Chosen by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC), the featured films are: Cold as Marble by Asif Rustamov, Bone Marrow by Hamid Reza Ghorbani, Declaration by Mahesh Narayanan, Fortune by Muhiddin Muzaffar, and The Instinct by Juboraj Shamim.

The second film by director Rustamov, Cold as Marble tackles a father’s unexpected release from prison. His son’s monotonous life soon turns into a dangerously complicated affair when the hateful bully of a father, who was convicted of murder, returns home.

In Bone Marrow, a woman finds out that there would be a very small chance to save her terminally ill son’s life using the cord blood. She must make a vital decision: either to stay with her beloved second husband and say farewell to her son or get a divorce, remarry her first husband, and give birth to a child only for the sake of the cord blood.

Narayanan’s Declaration centers on a South Indian immigrant couple who are working in a medical gloves manufacturing factory near Delhi. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, when an old video resurfaces among the workers of that factory, it opens up a Pandora’s Box that threatens the couple’s jobs and their marriage. Finally, the two are forced to confront their own needs and desires while choosing between a life of conscience, or a life of compromise.

Fortune is a drama that takes place during the eve of the Declaration of Independence in Tajikistan. It revolves around two old friends who are tested when one of them gets the lucky lottery ticket as his salary.

The Instinct tells the story of Langra, a crippled man whose floating life involves new relationships wherever he goes. He gets involved in a nameless relationship with the wife of a slum drug dealer. Langra unknowingly creates many more complications, which make his life a fairy tale or a curse.

Instinct director Juboraj Shahim Bhuyan will be in Manila for a talkback after the screening of his film on Aug. 6, 6:15 p.m. in Cinema Felipe (Meeting Room 4) at the PICC.

NETPAC is a worldwide, voluntary organization of 29 member countries, managed entirely by cinephiles who have worked for 25 years to promote Asian cinema. The NETPAC Award is given at select international film festivals, like the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, to promote Asian cinema by spotlighting exceptional films and discovering new talents.

RETROSPECTIVE
Another section in the film festival is the Cinemalaya Retrospective Section, which gives a chance for audiences to see the award-winning films in the last edition of the country’s biggest independent film festival. This year, seven films — four full-lengths and three shorts — will return to the big screen.

The featured films in the Restrospective Section are:

The Baseball Player, directed by Carlo Obispo. The Cinemalaya 18’s Best Film follows the journey of a 17-year-old Moro child soldier, whose father was killed in an all-out war in 2000, as he dreams to become a baseball player. Training extensively with his coach, he makes it to the final tryout of a local university. Unfortunately, another war against Moro rebels breaks out in 2003, and he is confronted with making a choice between pursuing his dream or fighting in the war. The film also won Best Screenplay (Carl Obispo), Best Editing (Zig Dulay), and Best Actor (Tommy Alejandrino).

Blue Room, directed by Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan. Rebel Rebel, an indie rock band composed of woke albeit sheltered teens, gets its biggest break at a prestigious local music festival. But after their celebratory night at the local bar, they are arrested for drug possession. Instead of the standard procedures, they are hauled to the Blue Room, a VIP detention area where they can bribe their way out through rogue cops. The band members have to decide whether to use their privilege to go on with their lives or to own up to what they had been preaching. Blue Room won various awards in Cinemalaya 2022, including the Special Jury Award, Best Director (Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan), Best Supporting Actor (Soliman Cruz), Best Cinematography (Neil Daza), and Best Production Design (Marxie Maolen Fadul).

12 Weeks, directed by Anna Isabelle Matutina. After ending a toxic relationship with her boyfriend, 40-year-old Alice discovers she is pregnant. With her age and current relationship status, her first instinct is to have the pregnancy terminated. As her body undergoes dramatic changes, Alice struggles and needs to decide what to do. The film bagged the NETPAC Award and Best Actress (Max Eigenmann). It was also nominated for Best Picture at the 2022 QCinema International Film Festival.

Kargo, directed by TM Malones. When her entire family perished in a motorcycle accident in Iloilo, Sara crashed into a deep depression, which was gradually replaced with an overpowering need to avenge them. Believing that her husband and daughter were murdered, she searches for the man who killed her entire family to find some closure. Kargo received the Audience Choice Award at the 2022 Cinemalaya. It won Best Film at the 2023 Porto International Film Festival-Fantasporto in Portugal.

Meanwhile, the featured short films are:

Black Rainbow, directed by Zig Dulay. Itan, a 12-year-old Aeta, is told to quit school and help his father in planting mountain crops so they can save up for his pregnant mother’s delivery. The boy finds a flicker of hope when he learns about a scholarship opportunity with two crucial conditions: one, he has to learn how to operate a computer and two, he has to convince his father to allow him to return to school. Only then would he be able to realize his goal to read through all the documents the Aeta community had been receiving and understand why they are being forced to give up ancestral lands up in the mountain to give way for mining. Black Rainbow was Cinemalaya 2022’s Best Short Film. It also received the NETPAC Award and Best Screenplay (Zig Dulay).

Dikit, directed by Gabriela Serrano. A woman afflicted with a dark curse develops an obsession with her new neighbors, a young couple with a secret of their own. Loosely based on a lost silent film by Jose Nepomuceno, Dikit reimagines classic Philippine folklore into a contemporary diptych of feminine bodies, rage, and freedom. Dikit was awarded the Special Jury Award and Best Director for Short Film (Gabriela Serrano) at Cinemalaya 2022, and Special Mention at the 2022 Singapore International Film Festival.

Mga Handum Nga Nasulat Sa Baras (The Dreams That Are Written On The Sand), directed by Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay and Richard Jeroui Salvadico. Three young boys wake up to an announcement on a new educational system where parents must take an exam to determine whether they are fit to teach their children. Knowing that their parents are not as privileged and knowledgeable as they are, Makoy, Kaloy and Buknoy try their best to teach their parents what they need to know for their exam. This film received the Audience Choice Award in Cinemalaya 2022.

For more information on the films to be shown both in and out of competition, check the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph) and the Cinemalaya website (www.cinemalaya.org). One can also visit the official social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and YouTube.

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