"On an occasion of this kind it becomes more than a moral duty to speak one's mind. It becomes a pleasure. (The Importance of Being Earnest)"
I know I should engage your attention if I wanted my page to rake up an obscene amount of hits. I suppose, in doing that, I ought to say something highfalutinly profound to give the impression that I am "interesting."
However, as I mainly concern myself of trivial stuff (i.e. taming my ugly mop of hair; hunting for the Lint Monster that eats up my socks during washer spin cycle), I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to pull off having an intrinsic character despite peppering this space with lotsa German words like "zeitgeist", "weltanschauung", and "volkswagen".
I am shallow, people of the universe. So shallow that I tidy up complexity by putting people into neat boxes of stereotypes using the question, "What's your sign?".
But when I tire of being shallow, I try to critique movies and books. And sometimes, when my insecurity-level spikes so low, I try to make myself sound so interesting by talking about philosophy. "Try" is the operative word here.
Please excuse me if I talk about me a lot. It's my favorite topic. Next to talking about nothing.
And when one talks about nothing, nothing becomes something. And it's called "crap".
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." (Lady Windermere's Fan)
IN commemoration of the ASEAN's 40th anniversary, the 9th Cinemanila
International Film Festival (CIFF) celebrates "ASEAN Astig!" The CIFF
will be showcasing several of the region's best films in an ASEAN
Cinema Focus. The official line-up will include Thailand's "The Dorm,"
"Alone," and "Syndromes and a Century"; and Malaysia's "Village People
Radio Show" and "Love Conquers All." The festival will screen several
films of Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Garin Nugroho, including the latter's
"Leaf on a Pillow," winner of the Lino Brocka Award in the first CIFF
in 1999. As part of its competition highlights, the CIFF will give an
award to the Best ASEAN Film of the year. A cash prize of P250,000
will be presented to the winner of this award. The Best ASEAN Short
Film will be similarly honored and the winner will receive a prize of
P50,000.00. These competitions and awards are made possible by the
joint efforts of the Film Development Council of the Philippines
(FDCP) and Cinemanila.
Seeking to promote the identity of ASEAN cinema, CIFF will also be
launching the SEAWAVE project this year. Some of the prominent
filmmakers of the region will each be contributing 3 to 5-minute films
revolving around the theme of "A Journey." The project will culminate
in the production of a 90-minute feature from the contributions, to be
previewed during the festival. Among the filmmakers who have been
invited to participate in the SEAWAVE project are Riri Riza, Nan
Achnas, and the I-Cinema Group of Indonesia; U-Wei bin Hajisaari, Tan
Chui Mui, and Amir Muhammad of Malaysia; Eric Khoo, Royston Tan, and
Kelvin Tong of Singapore; Nonzee Nimibutr, Apitchatpong Weerasethakul,
Wisit Sasanatieng, and Pen-ek Ratana-ruang of Thailand; and Pinoy
filmmakers Lav Diaz, John Torres, Raya Martin, Jeffrey Jeturian, Dante
Mendoza, Auraeus Solito, Chito Ronio, and Rox Lee of the Philippines.
The 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival will have its run from
August 8 to 19 at Gateway Mall Cineplex 10 in Araneta Center, Quezon
City, and from August 17 to 19 in Boracay. The CIFF is organized
jointly by the Independent Cinema Association of the Philippines
(ICAP), the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). For more
information, visit www.cinemanila. org.ph or email cinemanila@gmail. com.
