3 Filipino films featured in Reel Asian Film Festival

3 Filipino films featured in Reel Asian Film Festival

Annicka Dolonius and Sid Lucero.
(Photo stills from the film)

By Althea Manasan

When Canada’s largest Asian film showcase returns to Toronto this November, festival goers will have the chance to get a taste of Philippine cinema and culture.

Three of the films at this year’s Reel Asian Film Festival were made by Filipino directors, with each one showing a unique perspective of the Philippine diaspora.

Philippine cinema is experiencing a resurgence, says Kristine Estorninos, the festival’s head of programming. “The past few years have seen amazing Filipino films gaining traction internationally.”

After viewing more than 1000 submissions, the programming team selected a total of 77 titles, a combination of features, shorts and special presentations.

“I’m always looking for films that show contemporary Filipino culture, and I felt that they were really represented in the range of films showing,” says Estorninos.

Apocalypse Child, a feature-length drama directed by Manila-based filmmaker Mario Cornejo, has already garnered positive attention in the Philippines and around the world. It won three awards at the Quezon City Film Festival, including Best Picture, and recently screened this summer at the New York Asian Film Festival.

Set in the tourist town of Baler, it follows the story of Ford, a surfing instructor who has been told all his life that his father is Francis Ford Coppola. According to local legend, the American director impregnated Ford’s mother while he was in Baler shooting Apocalypse Now.

“The basic premise of this film was so intriguing, and it shows a different aspect of Philippine culture,” says Estorninos.

It’s the only film in this year’s festival lineup to be rated for audiences above 18 years of age. It deals with issues of abuse, infidelity and teen pregnancy. “That’s something you don’t normally see shown, at least to Canadian audiences, in such a modern contemporary light,” says Estorninos.

Annicka Dolonius, who plays Fiona, the girlfriend of the main character, Ford. (Photo stills from the film)

The other two films being screened are shorts: Ponytail, by emerging Filipino-Canadian director Gerald Patrick Fantone, and Sunday Cinderella, a documentary by Baby Ruth Villarama about Overseas Filipino Workers in Hong Kong.

Ponytail, shot in Toronto, tells the fictional story of a curious Filipino teenager who finds herself at a casting call for a modeling agency. It features a mix of English and Bisaya dialogue.

“I felt that was a great representation of a Filipino-Canadian girl growing up here and navigating through teenage life,” says Estorninos.

Fantone, who wrote and directed the short, took inspiration from his own life: his family moved to Toronto from San Narciso when he was 15 years old.

“I write what I know,” says Fantone. “I think with this one there’s something for sure about fitting in when I was at that age, and also being a minority and living in Canada — seeing what is dominant in the culture and trying to assimilate.”

Sunday Cinderella follows a group of Filipino caregivers in Hong Kong, offering an intimate glimpse into their daily lives as they prepare for an annual beauty pageant marking Philippine Independence Day. The region is home to more than 190,000 Filipino domestic helpers, according to the documentary.

The festival, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was started by producer Anita Lee and journalist Andrew Sun as a way to showcase and foster an appreciation for Asian cinema.

Last year, they welcomed about 15,000 festival goers, says Estorninos. This year, they’re expecting more than 20,000 across six theatres in the GTA, giving the films an opportunity to reach large audiences.

“I’m really hoping people will love all the films, but of course for me, my bias is for the Filipino films,” says Estorninos, who is Filipino herself. “I’m really hoping people will come out to see not just the short films, but also Apocalypse Child, and see what they think about that different side of Filipino culture that maybe they are not really aware of.”

The Reel Asian Film Festival runs November 8 to November 19.