Filipino Film Festival in Honolulu
WHAT: Filipino Film Festival, South East Asian Cinema
WHEN: April 2–24, 2016
TICKETS: Regular screenings: $10 general admission, $8 museum members. Admission is free for kids 17 and under
INFO: 808-532-6097 | www.honolulumuseum.org
Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo
Directed by Enzo Williams. Philippines. 2014. 100 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 2 at 7:30 p.m.
April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
April 10 at 7:30 p.m.Revolutionary Andrés Bonifacio was the founder and leader of the Katipunan, the late 1890s liberation movement. Told through the eyes of three Manila high school students on a museum tour, the objects in the museum become windows to Bonifacio’s dramatic armed revolt against Spanish colonial rule. The interweaving of time periods illustrates how a historical figure can continue to inspire in the modern world.
Best Picture 40th Metro Manila Film Festival Awards
Official Selection Seattle International Film Festival
Kid Kulafu
Directed by Paul Soriano. Philippines. 2015. 109 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
April 15 at 1 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
Before he became one of the world’s greatest boxers Manny Pacquiao lived a hand-to-mouth existence, trying to survive from one day to the next. Director Paul Soriano turns “the nation’s fists” life into a beautifully shot feature film that doesn’t shy away from the grit. When Pacquiao discovers his natural talent for boxing, he embarks on a brutal and intense journey that takes him from the mountains of the Philippines to the streets of Manila. He must risk everything to become a champion—for himself, his family, and his country.
Official Selection 35th Hawaii International Film Festival
Official Selection 28th Tokyo International Film Festival
Official Selection Raindance Film Festival
Above the Clouds
Directed by Pepe Diokno. Philippines. 2014. 90 min. English and Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 6 at 7:30 p.m.
April 8 at 1 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
After losing his parents in a flood, 15-year-old Andy (Ruru Madrid) is forced to live with his estranged grandfather (Pepe Smith). Disconsolate, he withdraws from everyone around him until his grandfather shows him old photographs of his parents on a hike. Together, they embark on an arduous trek, retracing his parents’ steps in a spirited effort to overcome grief. Director Pepe Diokno’s sophomore feature is a breathtaking journey that reveals the resilience of the human spirit.
Read The Hollywood Reporter review.
Arte Prize from the Berlin International Film Festival
Official Selection 27th Tokyo International Film Festival
Official Selection 25th Singapore International Film Festival
Filemon Mamon
Directed by Will Fredo. Philippines. 2015. 94 min. Tagalog with English Subtitles.
April 3 at 4 p.m.
April 7 at 1 p.m.
April 10 at 4 p.m.
A family film for all ages, Filemon Mamon is based on of the popular children’s book of the same time. Filemon is a high school student who desires two things: to win the heart of the girl he loves and to be the lead in a musical play about his hero Andrés Bonifacio, “the Father of the Philippine Revolution and Filipino Nation.” But he has a big problem—his weight. With his dad fighting for worker rights at the factory where he works and his mother working overseas, Filemon is left with his grandmother who loves to cook and believes that “to be fat is to be healthy, and to be healthy is to be fat.” Over the course of this endearing musical comedy about loving food and loving yourself, Filemon learns that his lola’s adage isn’t quite true.
Don’t forget: Films are FREE for everyone age 17 and under!
Dahling Nick
Directed by Sari Raissa Lluch Dalena. 2015. Philippines. 180 min.
April 9 at 6:30 p.m.
This docudrama explores the life and works of National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, who only accepted the National Artist Award on the condition that the Marcos administration release a well-known writer who was being unjustly detained during Martial Law. This unabashed homage to one of Philippine literature’s greatest figures weaves surreal reenactments of Joaquin’s masterpieces with candid interviews from National Artists for Literature Bienvinido Lumbera, F. Sionil Jose, Charo Joaquin Villegas, Elena Roco, and Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison.
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
Directed by Lamberto V. Avellana. Philippines. 1965. 90 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 9 at 4 p.m.
April 12 at 1 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
Based on the celebrated play by Nick Joaquin, Lamberto Avellana’s absorbing drama is a commentary on the degeneration of Manila’s former arts district, reflecting the struggle between the old Filipino identity and the onslaught of western influence. Sisters Candida and Paula have taken it upon themselves to care for their father Don, a renowned painter. Dependent on financial support from their brother and sister, Candida and Paula are steadfast in their ways, refusing to sell and leave their family home amidst the decline of their surroundings. To make ends meet, they rent a room to the modern, westernized Tony Javier. When Paula elopes with Tony, it sets off a series of events, resulting in the emancipation of not just the sisters, but the entire family.
Patintero: Ang Alamat Ni Meng Patalo
Directed by Mihk Vergara. 2015. Philippines. 90 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 3 at 1 p.m.
April 5 at 1 p.m.
April 10 at 1 p.m.
A young neighborhood patalo (underdog) named Meng assembles an unlikely team of losers to join her in the ultimate battle for the streets: patintero. Action packed, hilarious and heartwarming, the film reminds us that a good game with friends is more important than just winning.
Don’t forget: Films are FREE for everyone age 17 and under!
Ang Kubo sa Kawayanan • The House by the Bamboo Grove
Directed by Alvin Yapan. Philippines. 2015. 83 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 6 at 1 p.m.
April 9 at 1 p.m.
April 16 at 1 p.m.
Michelle, a talented calado embroiderer, lives in her own world in a house by the bamboo grove. The film tells the intimate story of how Michelle’s beloved home, along with the things around her—a river stone, a June beetle, and a can of sardines—would help her preserve the ecology of joy and peace she nurtures. Meanwhile, everyone around Michelle is trying to convince her to abandon the house. The film is a meditation on the virtue of staying during a time of migration, of permanence in a land of cultural erosion.
Official Selection Cinemalaya (2015)
Best Picture for Filipino New Cinema at World Premiere’s Film Festival (2015)
Nominated Best Picture at Singapore International Film Festival (2015)
Sleepless
Directed by Prime Cruz. Philippines. 2015. 120 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 13 at 1 p.m.
April 14 at 7:30 p.m.
April 16 at 4 p.m.
In this offbeat rom-com, stressed out, insomniac call-center agents Gem (Glaiza de Castro) and Barry (Dominic Roco) develop an undefined relationship, quite possibly a romance, under the guise of friendship, over several sleepless nights. Drawn together by their nocturnal loneliness, they talk about love, zombies and everything in between.
All You Need is Pag-Ibig
Directed by Antoinette Jadadone. Philippines. 2015. 116 min. Tagalog with English subtitles.
April 13 at 7:30 p.m.
April 14 at 1 p.m.
April 16 at 7:30 p.m.
A heartwarming family movie, which also has a touch of romance, All You Need Is Pag-Ibig explores the complexity of human relationships in all their forms. The movie features varied forms of love: family love, sibling love, puppy love, unrequited love, ruined love, prospering love, in denial love, jaded love, and true love. After all, what the world needs now is love, sweet love.
Related Programming
Encounters—Sunday Tours
Free
Thanks to the generous support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Honolulu Museum of Art presents for the first time its rare Philippine artworks in connection to the Museum’s larger collection of art. The Museum’s educational tour ‘Encounters’ compares Philippine artworks to Renaissance and Baroque artworks, such as the exquisite painting of St. John the Evangelist by Piero Di Cosimo, which recently returned from major retrospective exhibitions in Galleria Degli Uffizi Florence and the National Gallery of Art. The motive is to allow viewers to discover the most unexpected ties between Philippine and European artworks.
Master Storyteller Lopaka Kapanui: Tales of Ghosts and Legends Withheld
$15 general admission, $12 museum members
April 27 at 7:30 p.m.
One of Hawaii’s most popular storytellers, Lopaka Kapanui, shares tales of some of Hawaii’s local people who have become entwined in the supernatural and ghostly realms of different cultures around the world. Following the Doris Duke Theater’s monthly programming spotlight, Lopaka weaves his stories around the museum’s collection spinning tales that are sure to give you chicken skin. Indian, African American and Jewish stories set the stage for the beginning of the year.
Next, Lopaka takes the audience to the Philippines and Southeast Asia as secrets of things only whispered about are shared in Tales of Ghosts and Legends Withheld. Audiences can follow Lopaka throughout the year, every last Wednesday of the month, as he brings them around the world in mysterious ways.
Also in April—Southeast Asian Cinema
Cemetery of Splendor
Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. Thailand. 2015. 122 min. Thai with English subtitles.
April 17 at 7:30 p.m.
April 19 at 1 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
April 21 at 1 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
April 22 at 1 p.m.
Thai soldiers who have succumbed to a mysterious sleeping sickness are taken to a hospital in a remote city. Jen, a middle-aged, lonely hospital volunteer, along with a team of doctors and psychics, tends to the ailing soldiers. While trying to find a cure for the comatose men, the medical team discovers that there may be a connection between the soldiers’ condition and the mythic ancient site that lies beneath the clinic. Magic, healing, romance and dreams are all part of Jen’s tender path to a deeper awareness of herself and the world around her.
Affectionately known as “Joe,” director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives won the Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. He continues his streak of cinematic success with Cemetery of Splendor, which the British Film Institute picked as one of 2015’s top 20 films.
Official Selection Sundance Film Festival (2016)
Official Selection Un Certain Regard Cannes Film Festival (2015)
Official Selection 53rd New York Film Festival
Hollywood Reporter review | Guardian review
The Last Reel
Directed by Kulikar Sotho. Cambodia. 2014. 106 min. Khmer with English subtitles.
April 22 at 7:30 p.m.
April 23 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
April 24 at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. + 7:30 p.m.
Sophoun, the rebellious daughter of a hardline army colonel, lives her life for the moment, hanging out with a local gang. But when her father returns home with yet another arranged-marriage proposal, Sophoun flees her imploding home and seeks refuge in a derelict cinema. There, she is shocked to discover an incomplete 1970s melodrama that stars her now desperately ill mother as a glamorous young woman. A story from pre-Khmer Rouge times.
The Last Reel looks at the legacy of the trauma and terror that families suffered under the Khmer Rouge and the impact it has had on subsequent generations. The dark past is like a shadow that stalks the characters in this film. Parents, haunted by the horrors they witnessed, bear psychological scars that shape their children. This honest portrait of contemporary Cambodia depicts a beautiful and beguiling country that is home to a people in need of speaking, in need of sharing, in need of healing.
Winner Best Actor (Sok Sothun) Asean International Film Festival (2015)
Spirit of Asia Award Winner Tokyo International Film Festival (2014)
Black Dragon Award Winner Far East Film Festival (2015)