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Toyota PHL targets 5% sales growth for this year

TOYOTA Motor Philippines (TMP) Corp. expects vehicle sales to bounce back this year as it targets a 5% growth after an industry-wide slump in 2018.
As a sign of confidence in the local market, its parent Toyota Motor Corp. chose the Philippines to hold the world premiere of the all-new 2019 Hiace.
“We are estimating the market this year it will increase compared to last year but not double-digit. Latest forecast this year is 5% total market growth,” Toyota Motors Philippines President Satoru Suzuki said in a press conference, when asked for the company’s sales growth target this year.
Earlier, TMP said it is targeting a 10% sales growth this year.
“Inflation is one of the factors that will give impact but customers’ incomes are also growing, so we hope (the) latter half this year, customers’ mentality will get used to inflation and together with their income growth, customers will buy cars,” Mr. Suzuki said.
The vehicle industry saw sales slump last year due to the imposition of new taxes and soaring inflation. In 2018, car sales dropped 16% to 357,410 units.
TMP led industry sales with 153,004 vehicles sold — accounting for 42.81% of the total — down 16.8% from 183,908 in 2017.
Meanwhile, TMP is bullish on sales of the new Hiace, with Mr. Suzuki saying he expects to sell 1,600 units a month.
Toyota selected the Philippines to host the world premiere of the new vans as it is the ninth market for Toyota vehicles worldwide, and the top market for Hiace vans in more than 150 countries where it is sold.
In 2018, the Hiace had a 56% market share in the utility van segment in the Philippines. — Janina C. Lim

Megaworld expects P1.5 billion in sales from Bacolod tower

MEGAWORLD Corp. targets to book P1.5 billion from the sale of units in its second residential tower within The Upper East township in Bacolod.
In a statement issued Monday, the property firm of tycoon Andrew L. Tan said it has unveiled Two Regis, a 14-storey residential tower at the corner of Regis and Madison Streets of the 34-hectare estate.
Two Regis will offer a mix of studio units sized up to 31.5 square meters (sq.m.), executive studio (up to 37.5 sq.m.), one-bedroom (up to 43.5 sq.m.), and two-bedroom (up to 87 sq.m.). Several units will have their own balconies. The company will also sell units in different size options on Two Regis’ penthouse floor, called the Upper Sky Suites Floor.
The residential tower will feature three Skygardens, two of which will be located on the 12th floor, while the other one is located at the center of the eighth floor.
Other amenities will include a lap pool, kiddie pool, fitness center, daycare center, and function rooms.
Megaworld expects to complete Two Regis in 2023. It will stand next to a lifestyle mall that is currently in the works.
The launch of Two Regis comes six months after Megaworld unveiled its first residential tower in the area, One Regis.
“The overwhelming success of our first residential tower is a clear indication that Bacolod has embraced the convenience of both condo living and township living,” Megaworld Bacolod Vice- President for Sales and Marketing Mary Rachelle I. Peñaflorida said in a statement.
The company said it is now fast-tracking the development of projects inside The Upper East.
“We are fast-tracking the developments inside The Upper East to ensure that our future residents will be able to enjoy the mall, the parks, the hotel, and the other components of the 34-hectare township once they start living in the condo,” Ms. Peñaflorida said.
Megaworld started development of The Upper East back in 2018, and has allocated to spend P35 billion for the project in the next 10 years. The project was inspired by New York City’s Upper East Side district, and will house residential condominiums, lifestyle malls, commercial centers, and office towers, among others
The company’s net income attributable to the parent climbed 13% to P11.29 billion in the first nine months of 2018. Revenues also grew by 13% to P41.76 billion in the same period.
Shares in Megaworld fell by a centavo or 0.19% to close at P5.12 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Fiascos and fumbles: Oscar organizers stumble to restore glory

REUTERS

LOS ANGELES — First it was the furor over a proposed new “popular” film category, then it was the fiasco over planned host Kevin Hart, and last month the organizers of the Oscars were accused of intimidating celebrities not to present at rival award shows.
Last week, another storm erupted when, as part of a pledge to shorten next Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, plans to present awards for cinematography, film editing, live-action shorts, and makeup/hairstyling during commercial breaks were slammed as insulting by actors, directors, and cinematographers. Five days later, the plan was scrapped.
It’s been a tough 12 months for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as it battles to restore its annual Oscars show to a must-see event after the US television audience slumped to an all-time low last year.
“This year, the bigger question than who will win at the Oscars is what the heck is going on at the academy?” said Tim Gray, awards editor at Hollywood trade publication Variety.
“There have been a slew of bungles,” Mr. Gray added. “I feel they are flailing around and acting out of desperation.”
Under pressure from the ABC television network to trim and liven up the ceremony, the academy has seen many of its efforts backfire.
Bungles include a retreat in September over a proposed new “popular film” category, the withdrawal in December of Oscars host Kevin Hart because of past homophobic tweets, and an accusation in January by the US actors union that the academy was pressuring celebrities not to appear or present at award ceremonies other than the Oscars.
The Oscars is the last in a long Hollywood season that sees award shows and celebrity-packed red carpets every week over two months.
“The academy is caught between its role as a venerable institution that confers honors for the ages on film and the demands of the hurly-burly of social media, the 24/7 news cycle and the demands of the ratings,” said Sharon Waxman, founder and editor in chief of Hollywood website The Wrap.
‘PEOPLE REALLY CARE’
The academy did not return a request for comment for this story, but said in a letter to members last week that show producers “have given great consideration to both Oscar tradition and our broad global audience.”
ABC Entertainment President Karey Burke told reporters earlier this month she believed that the publicity around the Kevin Hart withdrawal showed the Oscars was still relevant.
“I, ironically, have found that the lack of clarity around the Oscars has kept the Oscars really in the conversation, and that the mystery has really been compelling,” Ms. Burke said. “People really care.”
The missteps have all but drowned out initial kudos over this year’s diverse Oscar nominations list, which range from art house films like Roma to superhero blockbuster Black Panther, and crowd-pleasing musicals Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born.
Awards watchers say the Academy’s efforts to deliver a compelling show for viewers next week — it will be held on Feb. 24 — still risk falling flat.
“The Academy is dealing yet again with what appears to be a leading film that is a very small film, in Spanish, and in black and white, that has not been seen by that many people,” Ms. Waxman said, referring to best picture front-runner Roma. Recent best-picture winners include small art-house films The Shape of Water last year and Moonlight in 2017.
“That is the more fundamental problem the Academy is facing with this telecast,” Ms. Waxman added.
Variety’s Mr. Gray said that, for the movie industry, the Oscars ceremony is always an enjoyable family get-together.
“The Oscars should also be fun for the viewing audience,” he said. “We will see if they are.” — Reuters

Collaborative working spaces now available at Savoy Manila

By Vincent Mariel P. Galang
Reporter
WITH the growing popularity of co-working spaces, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before hotels ditch their “business centers.”
Savoy Hotel Manila recently introduced The Squares, which it describes as the first-ever collaborative space in a hotel in the country.
The Squares is an added service for Savoy Hotel’s in-house guests who want to catch up on some work or those who want to hang out outside their rooms.
“We’re happy to claim it (is the first because), when we opened this, pre-opening pa lang we already envisioned that we will really be pioneering this kind of a service for our guests, and a lot of people who have discovered it are telling us that… this is one of a kind. Hindi pa ‘yan nakikita sa ibang [this is not yet seen in other] hotels, especially by virtue of our location,” Samantha C. Manuel, marketing and communications manager of Savoy Hotel Manila, told BusinessWorld in an interview last Jan. 22.
Located within the Newport City complex in Pasay, Savoy Hotel is right across Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, making it ideal for business and leisure travelers.
“Since we get a lot of travelers, iba-iba kasi ‘yung [there are different] lifestyle, behavior… a lot are young entrepreneurs on the go that sometimes they just check-in to catch a flight pero [but] also need to catch up on some work, also, so at least they have that option,” Ms. Manuel said.
She noted some guests, who are on staycations, also prefer to hang out at The Squares than leave the hotel.
“If ever I’ll be spending, at least it’s within the premises of the hotel, and I can be in my shorts, in my slippers,” Ms. Manuel added.
Savoy Hotel’s collaborative spaces are located in every two floors of the 12-storey hotel, with the main space located at the second floor.
All spaces will have its own kiosk for snacks and drinks, and will have an express check in/out counter.
The main space can accommodate up to 30 people, while the other spaces are half its size. The spaces have Wi-Fi connection and computers, as well as board games and a common television.
Savoy Hotel is also holding events for in-house guests in these spaces.
“Normally it’s in the last weekend of the month… Last year, we had workshops good for 15-20 people. We had wine tasting workshop, coffee appreciation,” Ms. Manuel said.
While The Squares has been open for seven months, Ms. Manuel said it is still in the soft opening stage.
Savoy Hotel has 684 rooms, ranging from standard to suites. It is situated Resort World Manila and Newport Mall.
The hotel was recently named Best New Hotel in TripZilla Excellence Awards 2018. Opened last June 2018, this is the second hotel carrying Megaworld Corp.’s homegrown brand. The first located inside Boracay Newcoast, its 150-hectare tourism estate in Boracay Island.

Sales of Hyundai vehicles in PHL slump in Jan.

HYUNDAI Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) said January sales of Hyundai vehicles in the country fell 5% year on year, amid the market’s lack of appetite for new cars.
In a statement on Monday, the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines said it sold a total of 2,758 vehicles in the first month of the year, lower than the 2,903 in January 2018. The figure also represents a 6.7% drop versus sales in December 2018.
Passenger cars accounted for the bulk of sales at 52.32%. HARI sold 1,443 passenger cars in January, 29% decline from the 2,036 units in the same month last year.
The Accent model, which represented 91.55% of the segment, saw a 2.48% year-on-year increase with sales at 1,321 units.
Sales of other passenger cars decreased, namely Eon which plunged 91% to 50 units in January from 528 a year ago, and the Elantra which dipped 68% to 70 units from 219 last year.
However, Hyundai expects the passenger car segment to recover in the next months with the recent launch of its Reina model.
Meanwhile, the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment climbed 52%, to 1,315 units from 867 units in January 2018.
“The addition of the Kona and the heightened demand for the H-100 has bolstered the segment’s performance,” the company said, adding the Kona sold 241 units.
Sales of the H-100 model, which accounted for 46% of the LCV segment, increased three-fold year on year to 608 units. Santa Fe purchases rose 11.32% to 59 units.
Sales of the Tucson slid by 45% to 155 units, and those of Grand Starex declined 23% to 252 units.
For 2019, the company remains optimistic that sales will rebound this year, as the economy is expected to improve on the back of the government’s continued spending and its infrastructure program.
“This is supported by positive sentiments from the market as inflation begins to ease, dropping to 4.4% in January 2019, the effects of TRAIN slowly dissipating, and the BSP expected to loosen its monetary stance. All of which will play for a better environment for the automotive-buying consumer,” HARI said.

Ilocos Norte’s Tan-Ok festival and its stories of greatness


A LITTLE boy is eager to wear a colorful costume for the first time; a new mother who recently returned as a festival dancer, is dedicating her performance to her daughter; and last year’s best female performer from Badoc hopes to bag the same award for a second consecutive year. They have been preparing their routines, props, and costumes since November, and rehearsing along with 49 other performers for a month.
In November 2011, the province of Ilocos Norte celebrated its first Tan-Ok ni Ilocano (The Greatness of the Ilocano) festival as a way for Ilocanos to take pride in their history, traditions, faith, livelihood, and culture. In 2018, the festival was moved to coincide with the harvest season in February and in line with the bicentennial founding of the province.
The province celebrated the festival’s eight year through a showcase of narrative dances on Feb. 2 at Laoag City.
“It’s really about retracing and celebrating and having an appreciation and understanding for the Ilocano,” provincial tourism officer Ianree B. Raquel told BusinessWorld prior to the festival program.
“We wanted to use this festival to build a place of pride and encourage the young to learn and appreciate more their culture,” Mr. Raquel added.
During the festival, the various contingents were tasked to perform narrative dances about their town or municipality’s history, culture, or local festivals. This year, 22 participating contingents — from one city and 21 towns — showcased their talents at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Memorial Stadium.
The municipality of Nueva Era was awarded as this year’s festival champion with a performance on the life and culture of Tinggian tribe. It also bagged special awards for Best in Production Design, Best Festival Music, and Best in Choreography and Direction. The town took home a trophy and a cash prize of P350,000.
The participants from the city of Badoc, who performed the story their city patron La Virgen Milagrosa, and participants from the city of Batac, who showcased how to prepare the empanada (a savory fried pastry), were named second and third prize winners, respectively.
Other special awards were given to the City of Batac for Best Digital Design; Cedie Cainglit from the municipality of Badoc named was named Best Male performer; while Judilia Pucan from the City of Batac was named Best Female Performer.
FUTURE PLANS
“We’re looking at institutionalizing this festival through local ordinances. Hopefully, we can make a foundation that will support the festival and expand its functions to include cultural education, heritage education, and research. In that way, it becomes long term,” Mr. Raquel said.
“In terms of audience, we really want to focus on good products such as the show that we have, so that it can be it can be as popular as other big festivals [in the country].”
In terms of tourism, the festival is an avenue for guests to experience Ilocano culture.
“In Ilocos Norte, every quarter, we have big events. This is one of them. Aside from viewing a well-designed production, [visitors] learn and experience a lot about Ilocano culture,” he said, adding that the province plans to further enhance the festival activities to include food and tours. — Michelle Anne P. Soliman

Beyond Bangkok: Thailand promoting secondary cities

THE Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting that more visitors from the Philippines will be visiting the Land of Smiles in 2019 after a good showing in 2018, with an executive from the tourism authority said that they will be promoting secondary cities this year in order for tourists to discover more of Thailand.
“We don’t need to promote Bangkok anymore, because everyone is already familiar with Bangkok, so this year we have a campaign [promoting] secondary cities or the non-primary cities like Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, or Hua Hin,” Kajorndet Apichartrakul, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand for Singapore and the Philippines, told the media during a media event on Feb. 9 at the Travel Tour Expo in SMX, Pasay City.
He said Thailand welcomed 430,000 Filipinos in 2018, a 13% increase from the previous year
“Last year, we achieved a remarkable number of Filipino visitors to Thailand — the number hit 430,000,” he said before adding that they are expecting 15% growth in 2019.
Mr. Apichartrakul said some of the reasons why they are keen to push cities outside of Bangkok is to lessen the worsening traffic congestion in the capital city (a 2017 report by US-based transportation analytics firm Inrix, named Bangkok as the most congested country in the world) and to attract repeat tourists.
Repeat tourists from the Philippines ranges between 30% to 40%, he said.
“They are quite different in terms of the nature, the culture, and the geography,” he said of the secondary cities before noting that Filipinos who love the cooler temperatures in Baguio will love the cooler temperatures of Chiang Mai.
Chiang Mai is located in the mountainous region of northern Thailand, with an average elevation of 310 meters above sea level. Its Old City area is considered a cultural and religious center as it retains vestiges of walls and moats from its past. Chiang Mai is also home to hundreds of Buddhist temples, including the 15th century Wat Chedi Luang and the 14th century Wat Phra Singh.
Meanwhile, Hua Hin, Pattaya, and Phuket are all resort destinations.
The promotion of secondary cities is shaping up to be a long-term plan for the authority as Mr. Apichartrakul said that the Thai government is trying to “facilitate transportation and traffic from Bangkok to other cities” to make it easier for travelers to enter Bangkok and move onward to other cities.
And in order to attract more tourists, the Thai tourism authority listed several festivals to entice people to explore more of the country. These include the Pattaya International Music Festival, to be held on March 14-16, which will feature performances from artists around the world, and the famous Songkran Festival which will be held from April 13 to 15 in Khao San Road in Bangkok, in Chiang Mai, and in Ayutthaya on the outskirts of Bangkok. The festival celebrates the start of the traditional Thai New Year with water fights.
There’s also the Loy Krathong or the Thai Festival of Lights, held on Nov. 13 in Chiang Mai, which celebrates the first full moon of the traditional Thai lunar calendar’s 12th month. During the festival, crowds release lotus-shaped candlelit containers to float down the river. — Z.B. Chua

Cathay Land’s Ng sees strong demand for industrial lots

CATHAY LAND, Inc. is expanding its industrial park in Silang, Cavite to address growing demand in the area.
The property developer launched last month Phase 2 of Cavite Light Industrial Park (CLIP) which will add 20 hectares of new space. This brings CLIP’s total land area to 70 hectares.
Jeffrey T. Ng, president of Cathay Land, told BusinessWorld in an email that the company has seen rising demand for industrial lots.
“The demand for industrial lots picked up dramatically last year due to the government’s Build, Build, Build program, and locators leaving China due to the ongoing China-US trade war,” Mr. Ng said.
Only 28 lots will be offered at CLIP Phase 2. Lot sizes range from 1,600 square meters (sq.m.) to 2,600 sq.m. at P9,300 per sq.m.
Located along Maguyam Road, CLIP currently hosts locators from pharmaceutical, packaging, technology, trucking, glass, and aluminum industries.
“The prevailing business environment and the continued growth in the local manufacturing industry entail that new business parks must be developed to help this crucial component of the economy foster in the years ahead. Our Cavite Light Industrial Park certainly addresses this need,” Mr. Ng said in a statement.
At the same time, Cathay Land launched the second phase of expansion of Mallorca Villas, a residential subdivision adjacent to the CLIP.
“The commercial and residential components of Mallorca City certainly give an impetus for companies to locate in CLIP since it will also address their executives’ and employees’ housing requirements. Overall, the integration of CLIP into Mallorca City promises a better quality of life to locators and definitely worth the investment,” Mr. Ng said.
Cathay Land said CLIP and Mallorca Villas will be rebranded into a township called Mallorca City.
The company began investing in Silang 15 years ago with the 500-hectare master-planned community, South Forbes Golf City.
In 2018, Cathay Land also launched Acienda Designer Outlet, an international outlet mall developed in partnership with London-based lifestyle retail developer Freeport Retail. It also added two low-rise residential condominium projects, namely Stanford Suites 3 and Fullerton Suites.
Cathay Land is part of the Cathay Group of Companies together with other companies like Cathay Pacific Steel Corp., Cathay Metal Corp., Eurotiles Industrial Corp., Federal Hardware, Ceramic Plaza, and PC Express. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

Concepcion Industrial earnings decline in 2018

EARNINGS of Concepcion Industrial Corp. (CIC) slipped in 2018 as the company was dragged down by a combination of higher expenses, volatile foreign exchange rates, and unfavorable weather conditions.
In a statement issued Monday, the listed maker of refrigerators and air-conditioners posted a net income of P1.4 billion, five percent lower year-on-year. This came amid a 2% uptick in consolidated sales to P14.2 billion.
The company attributed the lower performance to rising costs as a result of higher commodity prices, fluctuating foreign exchange rates, as well as the unfavorable weather, especially in the third quarter.
“Last year, we weathered short-term external challenges. However, things are looking more positive as the last quarter showed signs of a less volatile 2019,” CIC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Raul Joseph A. Concepcion said in a statement.
Revenues for the fourth quarter rose by 11% to P3.9 billion, while profit after tax accordingly went up by seven percent to P383 million.
“We are confident that our core business will be back on a growth trajectory this year amidst more favorable market conditions,” Mr. Concepcion added.
The top executive said the company remains optimistic for its business this year, as it ramps up investments for its new technology unit, Cortex. Cortex was branded as CIC’s Internet of Things (IoT) device in November last year, alongside smart plug Buddee which marks the company’s entry into the home management system with residential air-conditioning as the starting point.
CIC said Buddee may be used with any brand of window air-conditioner and is available to be purchased through online marketplace lazada.com.
“We are excited to pursue strategic growth outside our core business as we aim to offer solutions that are innovative and relevant to Filipino families and businesses. Our key focus area for this year is expanding the product and services we will offer to our clients through our new technology subsidiary, Cortex,” Mr. Concepcion said.
The company earlier said that it looks to grow Cortex so that it would account for 20-25% of its revenues by 2020.
CIC also acquired last year Teko Solutions Asia, Inc., a tech platform that gives people real-time access to service and repairs for home appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and water heaters by connecting them to qualified entrepreneur technicians.
Incorporated in 1997, CIC is the company behind air-conditioners and refrigerators under the Carrier, Toshiba, Condura, and Kelvinator brands.
Shares in CIC plunged 5.75% or P2.50 to close at P41 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia

Treasury makes partial award of T-bills

Bureau of Treasury (BoT)
THE GOVERNMENT partially awarded the Treasury bills as rates climbed.

THE GOVERNMENT made a partial award of the Treasury bills (T-bill) it offered on Monday as market players continued to anticipate a retail bond sale.
The Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) borrowed only P15.598 billion from the P20 billion it intended to raise. Investor demand totalled P28.862 billion, lower than the P30.316-billion in tenders raked in last week.
Broken down, the Treasury borrowed only P4.39 billion out of the programmed P6 billion via the 91-day tenor yesterday even as tenders reached P7.030 billion.
This, as the average rate for the papers went up 18.3 basis points (bp) to 5.733% from the 5.55% fetched during the previous auction.
For the 182-day bills, the Treasury borrowed P6 billion as planned out of total bids amounting to P13.874 billion. Its average yield also picked up 4.5 bps to 5.978% from the 5.933% fetched last week.
On the other hand, the government made a partial award of the 364-day papers, accepting just P5.208 billion out of the P8-billion program and total offers amounting to P7.958 billion. The average yield likewise climbed 6.9 bps to 6.052% from the 5.983% quoted in the previous offer.
The Treasury opened the over-the-counter sale of the instruments once more, which was made available to tax-exempt government-owned and -controlled corporations from 2-4 p.m. yesterday.
Based on the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates, the three-month, six-month and one-year papers were quoted at 5.566%, 5.89%, and 6.153% yesterday.
Following the auction, Deputy Treasurer Erwin D. Sta. Ana said the Treasury saw tenders amounting to 1.5 times the offer amount, although bulk of the demand was the 182-day papers.
“Feedback from the reports are basically (pointing to a) supply concern with respect to a perspective RTB (retail Treasury bond) issue. So looks like the GSEDs (government security eligible dealers) are factoring in that issuance,” Mr. Sta Ana told reporters yesterday.
National Treasurer Rosalia V. De Leon said last week that the government is looking at issuing RTBs, even as she said the state’s current cash position is “very healthy.”
“It (the RTB issuance) could be this month…the timetable is still within first quarter,” Mr. Sta. Ana said, adding that the retail bond sale will have an online component, which will let retail investors buy the instruments via the Treasury’s website.
“If ever we launch the RTBs, there will be a component of online, which means that individual investors can access our website and there will be an ordering form.”
RTBs are issued to the general investing public. Before the public sale of the bonds, the instruments will be first offered to eligible financial institutions at a rate-setting auction.
The deputy treasurer added that the tenor of the RTBs as well as the minimum volume have yet to be finalized, although Ms. De Leon noted last week that the Treasury will be “looking at the belly of the curve.”
Sought for comment, a trader said T-bill rates yesterday were slightly higher but still within market expectations.
“The demand was skewed on the six-month T-bills due to market anticipation of possible RTBs,” the trader said, adding that the BTr may launch the retail bond sale “sooner than later” to match the P70-billion worth of maturities it is scheduled to pay out today.
For this quarter, the government is planning to borrow P360 billion. Some P240 billion will be borrowed this quarter through 12 weekly T-bill auctions. On the other hand, P120 billion worth of Treasury bonds will also be issued through six fortnightly auctions. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Israeli director’s film Synonyms wins Berlinale

BERLIN — Nadav Lapid’s Synonyms, an anarchic story about an Israeli who tries to suppress his origins after moving to Paris, won the Berlin Film Festival’s coveted Golden Bear award on Saturday.
The film, a faintly comedic, semi-autobiographical study of identity and the ambivalence of national belonging, tells the story of Yoav, played by newcomer Tom Mercier, and his struggle to reinvent himself as French.
Yoav is shown muttering French synonyms in an attempt to displace his native Hebrew with French as he bonds with a young, wealthy Parisian couple, played by Quentin Dolmaire and Louise Chevillotte.
Mr. Lapid dedicated the film to his mother Era Lapid, who edited his films until her death.
“We edited this movie between editing room and hospitals,” he told Reuters. “It was a kind of competition between death and completing the movie. And death won.”
Like his protagonist, Mr. Lapid left Israel for Paris at a young age, and he compared his journey to Yoav’s.
“In his head he leaves the worst country ever to arrive in the best country ever,” he told a news conference. “And at a certain moment he is facing a more complex reality. But I am always a little bit like Yoav… I’m trying to open this closed door. I’m always charmed by something that exists in France.”
Mr. Mercier’s kinetic performance of a character determined to excise what he sees as an Israeli culture of machismo from his soul has been widely praised. But his attempts at reinventing himself also reveal much about French mores.
“I hope that people will feel a deep truth watching the movie,” he said, saying that it was in France that he had discovered cinema “as an essential thing… one of the most magnificent things the world can suggest us.”
French director Francois Ozon’s By the Grace of God, a drama about victims of child abuse in the Catholic Church and their fight for justice, won the runner-up Silver Bear Grand Jury prize.
Chinese actors Wang Jingchun and Yong Mei, who played husband and wife in Wang Xiaoshuai’s generational saga So Long My Son, won Silver Bears for best actor and actress respectively.
Another Chinese film, Zhang Yimou’s One Second, was pulled from the competition earlier this week, with the festival citing “technical reasons,” although it was widely speculated that the film had fallen foul of China’s state censors.
“We hope to see it on screens around the world very soon, and deeply missed this film here at the Berlinale,” said French actress Juliette Binoche, the prize jury’s president, at the awards ceremony. — Reuters

Filipino architect infuses his projects with ‘metamodern’ elements

ARCHITECT John Ian Lee Fulgar’s metamodern approach to design is apparent in his projects — the soon-to-be-built Mars Ravelo Museum in Tagaytay City, The Fortress hotel in Angeles, Pampanga.
For the Mars Ravelo Museum, paper-inspired galleries will house works of the legendary Filipino comic book artist. At The Fortress, the hotel will combine medieval and modern themes. Another project, a high-end hotel and casino in Tanauan City, Batangas, will have an origami theme.
Mr. Fulgar believes that art provides the backbone to his creations. He likes working with clients who prefer the unusual over the usual.
Before starting Fulgar Architects, the University of the Philippines-graduate previously worked at Architects 61 Pte., Ltd in Singapore from 2010 to 2014. He was also the president and chief executive officer of web design and development studio CreatingSkies, Inc. from 2009 to 2012.
Mr. Fulgar returned to the Philippines in 2014 to fully focus on his firm. Fulgar Architects is a full services architectural and design firm specializing in “metamodern” design solutions with technological influences.
“Our studio is kind of unique in a way that you have the IT component, the technological component, the designers and engineers working together… We enjoy more of collaborative work,” he said during a media roundtable last Jan. 22.
“The metamodern philosophy is more like a question of what comes after post modernism… We are more facilitated now with things that are digitalized… It has a global age message where everyone is more connected and we have more perspective on what is happening across the globe…. What metamodern now is to help us be more subjective to try to think of a common ground where we can entertain polarities and come up with something new, something creative as a challenge now,” he explained.
Part of the metamodern approach is education, Mr. Fulgar said, “a viewpoint that will look at impact more than the output.”
Mr. Fulgar noted the importance of technology in the firm’s designs and in architecture as a whole, saying it has led to better visualization and better decision making for plans and projects.
“When you work with technology, you are able to visualize the project better kasi [because] it can be, instead of looking at 2D (two dimensional) plans you can actually look at 3D plans and you can section it, you can dissect it, you can walk through it… you could visualize the project better,” he said.
“Because you’re working with building information modelling, you get to work with a lot of data. Data gives you a more empirical approach to design not just preferential. There is a sense of justification… With data you are able to simulate things. You can simulate wind flow, you can simulate traffic, you can simulate circulation, you can simulate solar paths… more empirical analysis involved with technology,” he added.
Technology also gives less room for misinterpretation.
“We’re talking about clear numbers, clear volumes… Back when we were doing manual drafting, it would probably take us five days to a week to finish our quantity take-off, but now due to technology, it’s not far away from a click of a button,” Mr. Fulgar said.
Tweaking details also got a lot easier for architects, thanks to technology.
“There is also a shift in mindset. The good thing about changing mindset is… it is teaching us to look at things holistically first rather than in parts,” he added.
SUSTAINABILITY
More developers are seeking Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) certifications for their projects. But for Mr. Fulgar, sustainability “has to be a given thing.”
“It doesn’t have to become a celebrated or a new idea because sustainability has been with us since for a long time. It’s just that because of Industrial Revolution, we somehow forgot these and then paved way for a rethinking. Maybe we should be more aware of sustainability, but for us it should be parang [like a] ground rule. It should be part of the design,” he said.
“It’s a non-negotiable aspect because what we do, what we build, how we affect the environment affects all of us… What metamodern’s role is to look at all these aspects from sustainability, to livability, to buildability all of that, and try to come up with new forms and a more technological innovations to come up with better buildings,” Mr. Fulgar said. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang

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