Your Guide To This Year’s Sinag Maynila
This year, Sinag Maynila Independent Film Festival brings its audience to unseen and untold stories through Full Length, Short Film, and Documentary filmed by young and seasoned directors.
Now on its fourth season, Sinag Maynila takes pride on its advocacy which is to give viewers an internationally appealing films.
Sinag Maynila CEO and Founder Wilson Tieng and world-renowned and internationally acclaimed film director Brillante Mendoza are grateful for the unwavering support of the sponsors, film and entertainment industry, and the media since the launch of the festival back in 2015.
Tu Pug Imatuy (The Right To Kill) and Kristo were some of the films that went abroad and recognized.
The five finalists for the Full-Length category
ABOMINATION by Yam Laranas
A young woman is found unconscious in a city street – claims to be another person who was brutally murdered two months earlier – escapes from a psychiatric hospital in order to prove her identity and find the truth about her life, her death, and her murderer.
Stars: Tippy Dos Santos, Tony Moynihan, Justine Peña, Paul Homes, Lukas Magallano
BOMBA (The Bomb) by Ralston Jover
Pipo makes ends meet by taking on the toughest jobs. Life is more difficult because hes deaf. He supports himself and his teenage lover Cyril. His irate boss is getting difficult and Ben, his childhood friend wants his daughter Cyril back. Like a bomb, Pipos ticking to explode, anytime soon.
Stars: Allen Dizon, Angelline Nicholle Sanoy, Allan Paule, Sue Prado, Kate Brios, Joel Saracho, Tabs Sumulong, Felixia Dizon, Lucas Alric Dizon
EL PESTE by Richard Somes
Abner lives a drab, downcast, solitary existence. His wife has abandoned him for good. Working for pest control company Panther, his job remains his sole connection to the outside world. It seems going nowhere until he meets Viola, a client whose existence is as sad as his. As sexual tension between Abner and Viola turns to illicit affair, Abner devices something that will eventually lead to a tragedy that will change their lives forever.
Stars: Mon Confiado, Jean Judith Zeta, Alvin Anson, Jim Libiran, Leon Miguel, Tikoy Aguiluz
MELODRAMA/RANDOM/MELBOURNE! by Matthew Victor Pastor
Presented in Glorious Cinema – O – ke! A feminist documentarian, a pickup artist, and a virgin’s lives collide. Aries Santos is a Fil-Aus feminist documentarian who is struggling to complete her new film. Her subjects are the male members of ‘TRU MALE DYNAMICS,’ a company formed to teach men how to seduce women.
Meanwhile, a sex worker named Melody slays into the night. The line between reality and fiction blurs, and blood is shed on the neon-lit streets of Melbourne.
Stars: Celina Yuen, Bridget O’ Brien, Rachel Javier, Khoa Le, Matt Furlani, Vlady T, Gregory Pakis, Kristen Condon, Elliot Ng, Charlie Dao, Louise Bremner, Aston Elliot, Jarrod Mayne
TALE OF THE LOST BOYS by Joselito Altarejos
A story of the friendship between two men Alex, a Filipino mechanic, and Jerry, a Taiwanese aborigine student. The two meet randomly when Alex flees to Taipei from Manila and a casual conversation develops into a surprising personal connection between them. The two men go on a road trip and eventually reconnects them with their mothers and both discover a certain sense of identity and freedom.
Stars: Oliver Aquino and Ta Su
The following titles are the finalists for the Short Film and Documentary categories:
SHORT FILM
1) Cesar & Magda – Pamela Barrios
2) Firestarter – Jill Urdaneta
3) Halusinasyon – John Agcalis
4) Kalye FM – Tom Nava
5) Pompoms – Angelo Amar
6) The Duwende – Odin Fernandez
DOCUMENTARY
1) Am-amma – Dexter Macaraeg
2) Halaga – Vandam Arambulo
3) Journeyman – Albert Almendralejo
4) Mahal – Janine Santos
5) Tsuper – Rina Abary
6) Voltaire – Jaimee Bernardo
The 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival opens March 7 to 15 in select SM Cinemas within Metro Manila— SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, SM Fairview, SM Southmall, SM Bacoor, SM Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa.
