The first recurrent film festival dedicated to cinema from the Philippines in Europe will open later this month from 11 to 17 June in Copenhagen and from 14 to 20 June in Aarhus.
The Filippinsk Film Festival is held in hopes to bring together a Danish and Filipino audience and build a bridge between the two cultures.
“The Filipino cinema reflects a developing movement and has been awarded in the past five years in many film festivals in Europe (Cannes, Berlin, Venice),” the organisers said in a statement.
According to the festival’s website, Filippinsk aims to provide the Danish audience, and by extension a Scandinavian audience, with an opportunity to discover, understand and appreciate a culture from a developing country through films.
It also hopes to help Filipino filmmakers distribute their films in Europe. Organisers said it expects to attract 1,500 moviegoers as well as national media coverage throughout the week.
Attending as guest of honor at the Filippinsk Film Festival is Filipino filmmaker, Brillante Mendoza, who will be visiting Copenhagen at the time.
Needless to say, Mendoza is not fresh in the industry as he received the award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 for his movie, ‘Kinatay’, which is among the films on the list to be screened at the festival.
The festival will also show Mendoza’s latest movie, the critically acclaimed drama ‘Captive’, starring French actress, Isabelle Huppert.
Also to be screened at the festival are Mendoza’s ‘Lola’, acclaimed independent films ‘Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa’, ‘Nono’ and ‘Isda’, and the comedy ‘Here Comes the Bride’ starring Angelica Panganiban. ‘Lola’ won the award for Best Film at the 6th Dubai International Film Festival.
