The Act of Killing, Ilo Ilo, The Terror, Live and Norte to screen at Cinemanila
The Act of Killing (trailer) from Ariadna Fatjo-Vilas on Vimeo.
The ingenious documentary The Act of Killing by Joshua Oppenheimer “stars” members of the Indonesian death squads that killed a million people in the 1965 military coup. These war criminals have never been punished for their crimes; they are regarded as heroes. The filmmaker challenges them to reenact their murders in the styles of their favorite movies—crime thrillers, westerns, lavish musicals. “Disturbing” does not begin to describe the results. The Act of Killing is produced by Andre Singer, Errol Morris and Werner Herzog.
Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo, winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes, chronicles the relationship between the Lim family and their Filipino maid, Teresa. Angeli Bayani stars as Teresa, who forms a bond with her troublesome young charge, Jiale.
Korean star Jung-woo Ha stars in the box-office hit The Terror, Live as a disgraced TV news anchor who tries to get his old job back by broadcasting a live interview with a terrorist. The Terror, Live is directed by Kim Byeong-woo.
Lav Diaz’s Norte, Hangganan Ng Kasaysayan (Norte, The End of History) stars Sid Lucero as Fabian, a law school dropout whose attempt to become more than just another useless intellectual has disastrous consequences. Archie Alemania plays Joaquin, the saintly man who goes to prison for Fabian’s crimes; Angeli Bayani is his wife Eliza, who carries on in the face of life’s crushing indifference. The screenplay is by Rody Vera; Moira L. is the producer.
Elegant and audacious, Norte is a dialogue with Philippine history and a meditation on The Big Questions: Life, Death, Good, Evil, Truth, Justice, History. Norte may have started out as a loose adaptation of Dostoevsky, but the finished film is pure Lav Diaz.
The Cinemanila 2013 line-up:
– Harmony Lessons (Kazakhstan | Germany | France) Emir Baigazin
– The Missing Picture (Cambodia) Rithy Panh
– In Bloom (Georgia) Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß
– Countdown (Thailand) Nattawut Poonpiriya
– Mekong Hotel (Thailand | UK) Apichatpong Weerasethakul
– What They Don’t Talk About When They Talk About Love (Indonesia) Mouly Surya
– The Act of Killing (Denmark | Norway | UK) Joshua Oppenheimer, Christine Cynn, and anonymous co-directors
– Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan (Philippines) Lav Diaz
– The Terror, Live (South Korea) Kim Byeong-woo
– Moebius (South Korea) Ki-duk Kim
– Almayer’s Folly Hanyut (Malaysia) U-Wei Haji Saari
– Stepping On The Flying Glass (Indonesia) Eugene Panji
– Peculiar Vacation and Other Illnesses (Indonesia) Yosep Anggi Noen
– Karaoke Girl (Thailand|USA) Visra Vichit-Vadakan
The Cinemanila International Film Festival runs from December 18-22, 2013 at SM Aura Cinema Premiere, Taguig City. Visit the Cinemanila site for more information. We will post screening schedules and ticket prices as soon as they’re available.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 11th, 2013 at 12:45
based on your synopsis, i NEED to watch norte. i wish there was a site where i can download it legally. i wish that site also makes all filipino movies (classics and cheesy, mainstream and alternative, old and new) available to those willing to pay. or maybe it exists already? :)
December 12th, 2013 at 05:31
Aaargh! They’re gonna show Norte on the last day of the Festival and I’ll be out of Manila by then. *sniff* This year’s lineup looks very promising though :)