Cine Veritas Human Rights Festival 2006 opens with hot new documentary

UP Film Institue’s Cine Veritas Human Rights fest opens with hot new
documentary

The hot new documentary feature from Malaysia’s digital filmmaking
pioneer Amir Muhammad opens the UP Film Institute’s Cine Veritas Human Rights
Film Festival 2006 slated from December 5 Tuesday to December 9
Saturday.

In a Philippine premiere on Dec 5 gala night at 7 p.m., Amir Muhammad’s Lelaki Komunis Terakhir (The Last Communist) will be presented before the premier state university community led by Guest of Honor Dr. Sergio S. Cao, UP
Diliman Chancellor.

The film offers a different sort of bio of exiled leader Chin Peng of Malaysia’s
banned communist party told not through fact and fiction but through testimony and song. Since its debut at the International Forum for New Cinema of the Berlin International Film Festival last February, it has played countless more including heavyweight festivals exclusively devoted to the world’s best and latest documentaries.

The gala presentation of Lelaki Komunis Terakhir will be preceded by the world premiere of Martyn See’s Speakers Cornered—a documentary short subject on pro-democracy activists in Singapore about to stage a protest during the recent
World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s annual meet.

Now on its fourth year, Cine Veritas continues to present for its latest edition a
wide variety of films that seek to confront the contemporary world’s most pressing
social issues. Highlights for the succeeding days include S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine by Rithy Panh (Dec 6 Wed 7 p.m. with repeat on Dec 8 Fri 10 a.m.) presented by the Embassy of France in the Philippines; the 35th Anniversary Screening of Asedillo directed by Celso Ad Castillo and starring National Artist Fernando Poe Jr. (Dec 7 Thu 7 p.m.); the Special Commemorative Screening of The Moises Padilla Story directed by National Artist Gerardo de Leon (Dec 7 Thu 2 p.m.); Nanette Matilac’s Memories of the Sea and Karie Garnier’s The Silent Natives of Fuga (Dec 9 Sat 10 a.m.) presented by the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education; ABC 5’s State of War and ST Exposure’s Alingawngaw ng mga Punglo (Dec 6 Wed 2 p.m.) presented by the League of Filipino Students.

Full slates of international shorts plus an Asian shorts program on politics
of oppression and a Philippine shorts selection tackling kids and poverty will
also be screened along with a surprise film from visiting filmmaker Amir Muhammad who joins filmmaking colleagues Nanette Matilac and Kiri Lluch Dalena and Asian Public Intellectuals fellow Sharaad Kuttan for a Film and Human Rights forum (Dec 8 Fri 2 p.m.) to be moderated by UP Film Institute’s Libay Linsangan Cantor.

Closing film on Dec 9 Sat at 7 p.m. is Raya Martin’s Maicling Pelicula nang
Ysang Indio Nacional—the Grand Prize Winner of Lino Micciche Award at the 2006 Pesaro International Festival of New Cinema.

The Cine Veritas Human Rights Film Festival 2006 is a UP Film Institute undertaking with the Office of the UP Diliman Chancellor, the UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, Stratos Public Relations, Microdata Systems and Management and CILECT as main partners.

Full flow of the five-day program is as follows:
CINE VERITAS HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2006
December 5 Tue-9 Sat
Dec 5 Tue
5 p.m. (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
International Short Films: Zahavi Sanjavi’s The Border (Russia, 2005,
27 minutes);
Peter Ghesquiere’s Moonglow (Belgium, 2005, 16 minutes); Goran
Kapetanovic’s
A Family (Sweden, 2005, 29 minutes)

7 p.m. (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
Philippine Premiere of Amir Muhammad’s Lelaki Komunis Terakhir
(The Last Communist, 2006, 90 minutes)
Account of the early life and legacy of the banned Communist Party of Malaya’s
exiled leader Chin Peng interspersed with especially composed songs for a truly
inspired chronicle.
To be preceded by the World Premiere of Martyn See’s Speakers
Cornered (2006, 28 minutes)

Dec 6 Wed (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
2 p.m.
Double Feature Presented by League of Filipino Students
ABC 5’s State of War (2006, 49 minutes)
Innocent civilians and unarmed activists are caught in the crossfire as
the national government executes its relentless drive to crush the
communist insurgents whom it regards to constitute the state’s deadliest
opponent.

ST Exposure’s Alingawngaw ng mga Punglo (2002, 48 minutes)
Notwithstanding the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human
Rights and International Humanitarian Law, human rights violations continue to
be committed against civilians in the Southern Tagalog region allegedly by
the country’s armed forces.

5 p.m.
International Short Films: Nicole Scherg’s Grandparents (Italy, 2005,
35 minutes); Hugh Gibson’s Hogtown Blues (USA, 2005, 18 minutes);
Babak Jalali’s Heydar, An Afghan in Tehran (UK, 2005 19 minutes);
Georges Homsy’s Miracle (Lebanon, 2005, 25 minutes); Sung
Ming-Chieh’s
Hey Jimmy (Taiwan, 2004, 16 minutes)

7 p.m.
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003, 101 minutes)
Documentary Feature by Rithy Panh
Presented by the Embassy of France in the Philippines
A visit at a genocide museum—the site of what was once a notorious
detention center where 17,000 men, women and children perished—relives the
terror of the Khmer Rouge.
To be preceded by Peter Ghesquiere’s Moonglow (Belgium, 2005, 16
minutes)

Dec 7 Thu (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
10 a.m.
International Short Films: Carolina Rivas’ Flat Point (Mexico, 2004,
27 minutes); Dragomir Sholev’s Before Life, After Death (Bulgaria,
2005,
13 minutes); Eliana Chiaradia’s Just Sand (Argentina, 2005, 10
minutes);
Corneliu Porumboiu’s
A Trip to the City (Romania, 2004, 19 minutes); Ramon Alos Sanchez’
The Day Nothing Happened (Italy, 2005, 16 minutes)

2 p.m.
The Moises Padilla Story (1961) by National Artist Gerardo de Leon
An MML Production
Special Commemorative Screening
An underdog politico battles a corrupt governor commanding a private
army that enforces his repressive rule in his province.
Archival print for screening courtesy of Philippine Information Agency
To be preceded by Corneliu Porumboiu’s A Trip to the City (Romania,
2004, 19 minutes)

5 p.m.
Asian Shorts Program: Politics of Oppression featuring Tom Shu-Yu
Lin’s
The Pain of Others (Taiwan, 2005, 30 minutes); Lexy Junior
Rambadeta’s
Mass Grave (Indonesia, 2002, 26 minutes); Mien Lor’s My
Confession-the picture diary (Malaysia, 2005, 10 minutes); Martyn See’s Speakers
Cornered Singapore, 2006, 28 minutes)
Anthology of Shorts programmed by Mervin Espina

7 p.m.
Asedillo (1971) by Celso Ad Castillo starring National Artist Fernando
Poe Jr.
An FPJ Production
35th Anniversary Screening
A schoolteacher rebelling against the American colonial government forms a militant peasant group.
To be preceded by Ramon Alos Sanchez’ The Day Nothing Happened
(Italy, 2005, 16 minutes)

Dec 8 Fri
10 a.m. (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
S-21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003, 101 minutes)
Documentary Feature by Rithy Panh
Repeat Screening
Presented by the Embassy of France in the Philippines
To be preceded by Dragomir Sholev’s Before Life, After Death
(Bulgaria, 2005, 13 minutes)

2 p.m.
Film and Human Rights Forum (Ishmael Bernal Gallery, Osmeña Avenue
Entrance) with Amir Muhammad, Nanette Matilac,
Kiri Lluch Dalena, Sharaad Kuttan;
UP Film Institute’s Libay Linsangan Cantor moderates
To be followed by Repeat Screening of Asian Shorts Program (2nd Floor
Videotheque, Osmeña Avenue Entrance)

7 p.m.
Sneak Preview of Surprise Film from Amir Muhammad (2nd Floor
Videotheque, Osmeña Avenue Entrance)

Dec 9 Sat
10 a.m. (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
Double Feature Presented by Center for Environmental Awareness and
Education
Nanette Matilac’s Memories of the Sea (2006, 54 minutes)
Like most cultural communities pushed away from their roots to desperate subsistence
by war, poverty and oppression, the Badjaw suffer a far greater loss of heritage not
only for themselves but also for the country, the continent they belong to and for
that matter the rest of the world.

Karie Garnier’s The Silent Natives of Fuga (Canada, 2006, 46 minutes)
What must be a journey to paradise for a Filipina and her Canadian husband turns into a nightmare as they encounter the unlivable rules imposed on the 2,000 poverty-stricken inhabitants of Fuga island.

2 p.m. (2nd Floor Videotheque, Osmeña Avenue Entrance)
Asian Shorts Program
Repeat Screening
Anthology of Shorts programmed by Mervin Espina

5 p.m. (2nd Floor Videotheque, Osmeña Avenue Entrance)
Philippine Shorts Program: Kids and Poverty featuring Teng
Mangansakan’s
Arrows in the Wind; Kris Villarino’s Binaliw; Sherad Sanchez’
Apple; Jeck
Cogama’s Putot; Khavn de la Cruz’ Rugby Boyz and Can and Slippers
Anthology of Shorts programmed by Mervin Espina

7 p.m. (Cine Adarna, Magsaysay Avenue Entrance)
Raya Martin’s Maicling Pelicula nang Ysang Indio Nacional (Prolonged
Sorrow of Filipinos, 2006, 96 minutes),
Grand Prize Winner of Lino Micciche
Award—2006 Pesaro International Festival of New Cinema
Three phases of an Indio’s life during the Spanish colonial times portray an impressionable child church bell-ringer, a pubescent caught in the growing
pressures of the revolution and finally an actor for a community theater group
escaping his troubled soul.

Cine Veritas Human Rights Film Festival 2006
Truth sets us all free...

The Cine Veritas Human Rights Film Festival 2006 is a UP Film Institute
undertaking with the Office of the UP Diliman Chancellor, the UP
Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, Stratos Public Relations, Microdata Systems and Management and CILECT as main partners.

Cine Veritas Human Rights Film Festival 2006
University of the Philippines Film Institute
(Member, CILECT/International Association of Film and Television
Schools)
Plaridel Hall, Ylanan Road, UP Diliman, Quezon City
Tel: 9818500 (UP Trunkline) local 2669, 2670; 9206863 (Telefax)
Cine Adarna, Magsaysay and Osmena Avenues, UP Diliman, Quezon City
Tel: 9818500 (UP Trunkline) local 4286, 4289; 9262722 (Telefax)