Quezon City takes art and culture seriously
Quezon City mayor Herbert Bautista and vice-mayor Joy Belmonte, is taking their job as guardians of the “City of Stars” seriously.
Last year, they launched the Quezon City (QC) film festival, which screened indie films in Trinoma Cinemas. This year, they are setting their sights higher because the city is celebrating its 75th, or diamond year.
The public can watch 37 films, including major Oscar bets at the QCinema International Film Festival from November 5 to 11 at Ayala Trinoma Mall.
"From Flashback to Fast Forward”
Leading the line-up is Arnel Mardoquio’s “Alienasyon,” a film about a retired UP professor who defies an order to leave his home in Diliman. The film , chosen among others for depicting Quezon City’s storied past, got a P2-M grant from the QC government. After all the theme of the festival is “
From Flashback to Fast Forward.”
“Alienasyon” will open the 6-day filmfest at Trinoma Activity Center on Wednesday, November 5, 5:30 p.m.
Other films also got post-production grants worth P150,000. These films, also to be shown in the festival, are “1st Ko Si 3rd,” a Cinemalaya New Breed finalist, “Nick and Chai”( a docu about Yolanda victims), “Tigbao (which deals on desaparecidos), “Cemetery Life” (on people living in society’s fringes) and ”Tres,” a trilogy of literary adaptations by seasoned directors William Mayo, Edgardo ‘Boy’ Vinarao and Jose M. Carreon.
The five films will vie in the Circle Competition, where cash prizes (P300,000 for the Pylon Awards Best Picture, P200,000 for the Jury Prize winner, P100,000 for the Audience Choice winner and P100, 000 for the Gender Sensitivity winner) are at stake.
Short films
Also competing for the Pylon awards are “Ang Di Paglimot ng mga Alaala”, “Bigkis”, “In Darkness We Live”, “Little Azkals and “Mauban: Ang Resiklo.”
Meanwhile, short films the QC government gave P150,000 post-production grants to are “Tila”, “Ang Nanay ni Justin Barber”, “Senior”, “Bonifacio” and “Sa Ngalan ni Ultimate Warrior.”
These shorts make up a 5-in-one omnibus film dubbed “ QCX” (Quezon City Experience) Anthology.
Award-winning foreign films will be shown. The Netherlands Embassy will premiere “Lilet Never Happened (on Manila’s most famous child prostitute)” on Thursday, November 6, 6 p.m.
Acclaimed filmmaker Park Chan-Wook’s Vengeance Trilogy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, will be screened in 35 mm. format.
Films on children
“We want to empower children, so we screening films about them (e.g. Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil’s “Boses,” Ditsi Carolino’s “Bunso: The Youngest”, Luis Suarez’s “RPG Metanoia,” Majid Majidi’s “Chiildren of Heaven”, Li Jixian’s “Dance Without Music,” Zhang Yimou’s “Not One Less” and Majid Majidi’s “The Color of Paradise,” Belmonte said.
“Gaydar”, “Hello, World” and “Lukas Nino” will also be shown.
She adds that the city is investing this much on art and culture because “our aim is for Quezon City to be slowly known as a global city.”
Mobile festival
She is proud that Quezon City has “the only local government unit na malaki ang suporta sa art and culture and artistic sector.”
And she dreams of the day when foreign embassies will look, not just at Makati, as a venue for screening films, but at Quezon City as well.
Belmonte added that after Trinoma, the festival will go to Robinsons Magnolia and Ayala Fairview Terraces.
