Southeast Asian cinema website
 

just in case you might be interested

http://www.criticine.com/main.php

Very nice. Thanks for the link.

Now, are you aware of any DVD sites that sell Malaysian/Filipino films?

i know you can rent some filipino dvd's via netflix

and here's another one

http://www.filipinomovierentals.com/

Joeydaninja - have you seen STRAY CATS by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil? How is it?

i haven't seen it. But i did see her first work, Angels.

http://www.geocities.com/ellenongkeko/

and that was slow and plodding, like most filipino "art films" are. but it was pretty good.

Thanks for that - and did you catch Dante Mendoza's THE MASSEUR?

not yet but i've been hearing good things about that guy. i'm interested in his next movie, which is about getting married in a part of the philippines where I am from. anyway, here are more reviews on pusang gala (stray cats)

http://pinoydvd.com/board/index.php?topic=37960.0

Actually, I know Dante personally, and I indeed know about his next film :) Just wondering what you thought if you had seen it.

Oh kewl, well to be honest, i'm not really too big on gay-themed films. which is why i'll be interested in the next one. i'll send you a review, once i've seen it.

but if you are interested in filipino movies, there is one film, ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros (the blossoming of maximo oliveros) which has just come out. which was awesome. it just won in the montreal film festival an award. the good news is, even though it was shot on digital video, it will be shown in the mainstream theaters in the philippines.

there is another movie called big time, which i love even more. it's a caper movie. a lot of the jokes refer a lot to filipino culture, which is why the creators do not think it will be understood worldwide. i, however, think its a great film and deserves to be shown everywhere.

anyway, these last two films i've mentioned were funded and screened by the cultural center of the philippines and a cable company. they are both worth watching.

Actually (again), I also know the director of Maximo Oliveros. And yes, I like the film quite a bit. You should watch his newest film, TULI, which won best picture at CineManila.

Haven't heard of this BIG TIME - who's the director? I'll check it out.

Any word on the DVD release with English subtitles for THE PRINCESS OF MOUNT LEDANG?

There won't be one from Malaysia - it' s available on VCD only. Malaysia's a market that for the longest time has been completely pummelled by illegal copies. Even SEPET will not be out on DVD. The situation with MOUNT LEDANG is actually even more complicated - it has to do with the rights sold. I remember Teong-Hin and I talking about this a while back.

here's the website for arkeofilms

http://www.arkeofilms.com/

and here's the link for their film big time

http://www.arkeofilms.com/bigtime/index.htm

kewl, you know aureaus! he's one of my favorite local directors. him, along with this guy named topel lee and quark henares. quark did the movies keka and gamitan, he's is our answer to quentin tarantino. haha!

aureaus also has great videos and shorts you should look at esp. ang huling el bimbo (the last dance) and impeng negro (impen the dark)

i will watch out for tuli.

anyway, if you will indulge me, here is my review for pagdadalaga, i want to add more about the father later, but here is what i wrote so far

----------

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros
By Joey Fernandez

I was planning not to watch Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros. I was like, oh no, another movie about “baklas” in the Philippines. How cliché. But APMO, is not your typical Filipino pink film. First of all the movie is not about the expected oppression of gays. In fact, the gay child, Maxie, is quite loved in his squatter colony, even by his macho criminal father and brothers. I am frankly sick and tired of movies about fathers beating the crap out of their sons because they are gay. Yes, Filipino showbiz industry, there are families who love their sons, gay or not.

The movie unfolds and there is a new cop on the block. As expected Maxie falls in love with him and the usual childhood crushing ensues. Though what I found more fascinating is how Michiko Yamamoto, the scriptwriter puts in the details of how a poor Filipino society functions. Jueteng is tolerated. Ending is a cottage industry. Maxie with a small piece of paper and a pen can run it. Even the police play jueteng. For an outsider, there are other things that can be quite disturbing. The police captain drinks with petty thieves. The “tambays” show deference to the cops, but curse them after they have passed by. It is also shown it is disrespectful to turn down a drink in a squatter area, I have always wondered if this is true, but I am too chicken to find out. Heck, there was even nakedness shown in the film, that was quite jolting, ah, the joys of having digital effect blocking certain things, if this movie ever hits the mainstream theaters :)

I also like the way the film portrays cops that are quite different from how we usually perceive them. Cops do provide order to the neighborhood and we do need them. If we didn’t have cops, the Philippines would be a lot more chaotic than we think. And it is a very difficult job. Plus contrary to popular belief, cops aren’t much richer than the common Filipino. So don’t think those mulcting street cops are raking it in. Their stainless steel jeeps kind of show how much they are really making. But most surprising of all when Maxie’s crush starts investigating Maxie’s family, they retaliate. Destroying the belief that cops are untouchable. Some cops are indeed heroic.

So I guess what makes this movie work, is the changing of perceptions we think we know about the urban poor but aren’t necessarily true. This movie is about the shattering of myths and this is why I believe, it is well worth watching.

Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros is showing at the Cinemalaya Film Festival at the CCP from July 12 to 17. Schedules for the screenings are located here:

http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph/cin...agdadalaga.htm

Support Philippine Independent Cinema.

and grim, i think it's about time you tell me actually what you do, coz you know a bit too much about southeast asian cinema. haha!

Haha - yup. I work in the industry. I'm the English editor for the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and I also programme two other festivals, one being the Toronto Reel Asian Film Fest. Because of my work, I know nearly every filmmaker on the front page of that Criticine website ;)

oh kewl, have you met todd of twitchfilm.com? they are a good site that follows asian film quite intensely. they're based out of toronto.

i was meaning to go to the hong kong film festival two years ago, but then SARS hit. i had accreditation and everything. oh well, perhaps next time. but i am planning on going to the toronto film festival next year.

I haven't met Todd, but the focus of Twitch is very different from mine. I'm not interested in commercial Asian films - I'm much more keen on "indie" filmmakers. That being said, I do read Kaiju Shakedown, since my friend is the blogger.

Well, you should come to HKIFF next year! I'll be there. Dunno about TIFF, but I should be back next year too.

well, I only have a limited film festival budget next year, so I'll still have to find out.

by the way, would you know which murakami novel Tony Takitani was based upon?

Oh and Sa Ilalalim ng Cogon (Beneath the Wild Grass) is the next movie du jour to watch next here. It will be having it's Philippine premiere on November 19 at the UP (University of the Philippines) Film Center. It's directed by this new guy named Rico Ilarde. It looks interesting. I will surely write a review for this one :D. Looks like it won some awards in some part of the world.

----------

Congratulations to Rico Ilarde!

ANOTHER Filipino indie filmmaker does the country proud as Rico Maria
Ilarde’s “Sa Ilalim ng Cogon” (Beneath the Cogon) won Best Picture at
the
6th Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre Festival de Cine de Terror, Fantastico y
Bizarro held from October 27 to November 2.

“Cogon” bested 11 other entries for the main international competition
for
full-length features including those from Italy, Ireland, Canada, Peru,
Spain, United States and host country Argentina as chosen by the grand
jury
composed of Ayar B, Victor Maytland, Juan Acosta.

The film will have its Philippine premiere exclusively at the UP Film
Institute on Saturday, November 19, at 7 p.m.

Rojo Sangre International Filmfest is a young genre-oriented film
festival
at par with its counterparts all over the world such as Screamfest in
Los
Angeles, Sitges and Malaga in Spain, Fantasporto in Portugal, Munchen
and
Cologne in Germany, Lund in Sweden, Gerardmer in France as well as
similar
others held in Amsterdam and Brussels.

Fresh from winning the Buenos Aires top plum, “Cogon” proceeds to
Luxembourg
for the 9th Cinenygma International Film Festival slated from November
13 to
19. Congrats and more power to Rico and the entire cast and crew of the
distinguished film!

Tony Takitani is a short prose written for the New Yorker. It's not a novel, but you can find the original text online somewhere, I believe.

BTW, if you do plan to come to Toronto, do note that it's an expensive festival. Public tickets are CDN$20, and full accreditation is CDN$800. And this doesn't include the jacked-up motel prices and flight all the way from Manila!