Cinemanila: Celebrating Southeast Asian Cinema: ASEAN Cinema Focus

Celebrating Southeast Asian Cinema: ASEAN Cinema Focus in the 9th
Cinemanila International Film Festival

In commemoration of the ASEAN's 40th year anniversary, the 9th
Cinemanila International Film Festival (CIFF) will be showcasing
several of the region's best films in an ASEAN Cinema Focus. The
official line-up will include Thailand's The Dorm, Alone, and
Syndromes and a Century; and Malaysia's Village People Radio Show
and Love Conquers All. The Festival will screen several films of Pen-
ek Ratanaruang and Garin Nugroho, including the latter's Leaf on a
Pillow, winner of the Lino Brocka Award in the first CIFF in 1999.
As part of its Competition highlights, the CIFF will give an award
to the Best ASEAN Film of the year. A cash prize of PhP250,000.00
will be presented to the winner of this award. The Best ASEAN Short
Film will be similarly honored; the winner will receive a prize of
PhP50,000.00. These competitions and awards are made possible by the
joint efforts of the Film Development Council of the Philippines
(FDCP), and Cinemanila.

Seeking to promote the identity of ASEAN cinema, CIFF will also be
launching the SEAWAVE project this year. Some of the most prominent
filmmakers of the region will each be contributing 3- to 5-minute
films revolving around the theme of "A Journey." The project will
culminate in the production of a 90-minute feature from the
contributions, to be previewed during the Festival. Among the
filmmakers who have been invited to participate in the SEAWAVE
project are Riri Riza, Garin Nugrotto, Nan Achnas, and the I-Cinema
Group of Indonesia; U-Wei Bin Hajissari, James Lee, Ho Yu Hang, Tan
Chui Mui, and Amir Muhammad of Malaysia; Eric Khoo, Royston Tan, and
Kelvin Tong of Singapore; Nonzee Nimibutr, Apitchatpong
Weerasititakiul, Wisit Sasanathieng, and Penek Rattanaruang of
Thailand; and Lav Diaz, John Torres, Raya Martin, Jeffrey Jeturian,
Dante Mendoza, Auraeus Solito, and Rox Lee of the Philippines.

The 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival will have its run
from 8 to 19 August 2007 at Gateway Mall Cineplex 10 in Araneta
Center, Quezon City, and from 17 to 19 August 2007 in Boracay
Island. The CIFF is organized jointly by the Independent Cinema
Association of the Philippines (ICAP), the Film Development Council
of the Philippines (FDCP), the National Commission for Culture and
the Arts (NCCA), and a specially commissioned inter-agency
committee, with Major Partners: the Office of the President, the
Department of Tourism, CinemaOne, and Gateway Cineplex 10; Gold
Sponsors: Manila Bulletin, Philippine Airlines, and Web Philippines
Inc.; Festival Sponsor: ClicktheCity. com; Event Sponsors: Asian
Spirit and Boysen Paints.

For more information, you may refer to the official CIFF website at
http://www.cinemanila.org.ph or contact the Cinemanila Secretariat
through its email address, cinemanila@gmail. com.