Addictions: Cinemalaya

It's once again time to head over to CCP for the ten days of Cinemalaya. Film enthusiasts, social butterflies, and yes, students with imposed reaction papers, and bandwagoneers will flood the various viewing rooms to partake of this year's finalists.

Twenty five films have been announced as part of the three main competitions in the festival.  But as in other years, my main focus is with the New Breed Full-Length competition:

Emmanuel Palo’s “Santa Nina”
Gino Santos and Jeff Stelton’s “The Animals”
Vincent Sandoval’s “Aparisyon”
Mes de Guzman’s “Diablo”
Lemuel Lorca and Jerry Gracio’s “Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino”
Alfred Aloysius Adlawan’s “Ang Katiwala”
Marietta Jamora’s “Ang Nawawala”
Paul Sta. Ana’s “Oros”
Julius Sotomayor Cena’s “Mga Dayo”
Loy Arcenas’ “Requieme”

Earlier in the year, the Cinemalaya board was embroiled in its own scandal what with one competition film being disqualified for not adhering to the casting demands of the Board.  Others have called for the boycott of the Cinemalaya for its apparent disregard for its own mantra of being the haven for truly independent cinema.  But though I share the sentiment of keeping Cinemalaya truly malaya, I don't adhere to the idea of punishing the other competitors just to get the message across.

Last year, Cinemalaya increased its clout by tapping Greenbelt Cinemas to feature the films in competition; the first time their movies were shown outside of the CCP grounds.  This year, the competition reaches more ground with the help of Ayala Cinemas.  Aside from CCP, the movies will be shown in Greenbelt and Trinoma.

I am planning to watch as much as I can, maybe sneak as much weeknight viewing after work, as well as organize a weekend marathon among friends.

See you in Greenbelt and CCP!  :-)