This year’s festival will feature over 40 films from over 20 countries, ranging from established and rising talents of the local indie scene to award-winners from prestigious festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Rotterdam, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Jeonju and Busan.
International line-up. Headlining the international line-up is Cannes 2012 Palme d’Or winner “Amour” by Michael Haneke, Olivier Assayas’ Venice International Film Festival entry “Something in the Air,” and Busan Film Festival 2012’s New Currents and Fipresci winner, “36,” from up-and-coming Thai director Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit.
Also in the growing line-up are Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s Cannes 2012 main competition entry, “In Another Country,” and the 25th Tokyo International Film Festival Special Jury Prize winner “Juvenile Offender” by Kang Yi-kwan.
“In Another Country” stars “Thy Womb” French actress Isabelle Huppert while “Juvenile Offender” stars Korea’s “Techno Queen,” Jung-Hyun Lee.
Made in Manila. Part of this year’s strong line-up is the Made in Manila program featuring the most recent works of modern Filipino masters Lav Diaz, Raya Martin and Sherad Anthony Sanchez.
Diaz’s “Florentina Hubaldo, CTE” comes home to Philippine audiences fresh from Rotterdam, Edinburgh, and from winning the NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award at the Jeonju International Film Festival.
Martin’s “The Great Cinema Party” is one of three new films in the Jeonju Digital Project. It will premiere in the Philippines, along with “Florentina” and Sanchez Rome International Film Festival CINEMAXXI entry, “Jungle Love,” through Cinemanila.
Tributes. Cinemanila’s central theme in 2012 is paying tribute: to those who have passed on and to all that have been part of the festival in the last 14 years. These names are commemorated in all of the festival’s artworks.
There will also be tribute programs in honor of late directors Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Mario O’Hara and indie movie producer Tony Veloria.
Outdoor events. This year’s edition will feature the usual outdoor screening of local shorts from the Young Cinema section. The Young Cinema Night, as it’s called, will be at the Bonifacio High Street lawn on Friday, December 7.
The awards night, on the other hand, will be a “harana”-inspired red carpet event at the Bonifacio Global City on Saturday, December 8.
The Cinemanila International Film Festival is the country’s largest and longest running international film festival. The 14th edition will run December 5-11 at Market! Market! Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
For more information, please go to www.cinemanila.org or like /Cinemanila2012 on Facebook and follow @Cinemanila2012 on Twitter.