Windblown

It took a while for me to post this as I'm having a hard time figuring out how to post via Blogaway for Android on the set of GMA's Encantadia. I've been trying it for four days but it seems my drafts would forever remain as such on the said app; it's so bad it doesn't even sync with Blogger on my laptop. I thought it was just the bad signal but no :/ Annoying how this app makes me feel stupid. Time to delete!

Moving forward, I would just have to stop missing my old I-phone, accept that it's easier to blog on my laptop, look up, and be positive.

This was taken before hosting Sinag Maynila 2017's launch at SM Aura Premier's Sky Garden last Thursday. It was terribly windy but I still felt awesome thanks to the SM Store Glam Team (Max Factor & Phillips).

It was cool sharing a dressing room with France Got Talent Top3 Finalist Alienette Coldfire. She sings so well, even the bugs and in the grass were moved when she hit her clear high notes. Nakakakilabot. The audience was teary eyed after her rendition of her viral song "I Dreamed a Dream" in French :) Too bad I was so touched I forgot to snap a photo :/

After the Gong ceremony (to officially start the festival) we watched the opening film Asian 3-fold Mirror: Reflections.  Festival director Brillante Mendoza helmed the first one in the series which was about an undocumented OFW in Japan (Lou Veloso) deported after 30 years of service. His lack of purpose and funds upon forced retirement made him consider suicide in his homeland.

It's amazing how Direk Brillante was able to seam everything together sprinkling flashback and contrasting imagery of horses, coffins, and disfigured legs in one fluid tale that's almost poetic.

Catch Sinag Maynila Independent Films in selected cinemas in SM Megamall, SM North, Gateway and Glorietta until tomorrow, March 14. 

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Sinag Maynila films shine on this April 2016

5 Independent filmmakers present films that promote women empowerment for Sinag Maynila 2016.

CEO and founder Wilson Tieng says the films this year explore various facets of womanhood in line with 2nd Avenue's thrust. Tieng is further challenged by the filmfest's success last year. He's proud to have participated in almost 40 filmfests worldwide.

Festival Director Brillante Mendoza adds the collaboration resulted in stories that reflect the Filipino culture. Mendoza emphasizes that they do not intend to compete with mainstream movies; they just want to provide alternatives.

Here are this year's entries:

1. Expressway by Ato Bautista 

- all about Ben in his retirement mission with newbie Morris in a big criminal syndicate. This unexpectedly turns out to be a journey of self-healing and ultimate redemption.

2. Lila by Gino M. Santos

- a cautionary tale for emo millenials!;p It focuses on a girl at the brink of self-destruction. Instead of being able to renew her spirit in the house she moved into, a diary of an old tenant haunts her further.

3. Mrs by Adolf Alix, Jr.

- Talk about unshakeable uncertainty! 70-year-old Virginia who lives in a house directly on top of an earthquake fault line desperately tries to juggle the sad realities of life and death.

4. TPO (Temporary Protection Order) by Joselito Altarejos 

- Teresa, a battered wife, shows how complicated complaining could get as she attempts to obtain relief from her unbearable circumstances by filing a Temporary Protection Order against her abusive husband.

5. Dyamper by Mes De Guzman

- when sin gets habitual and even more complicated! 3 friends jump at the back of rice delivery trucks along Dalton Pass to steal goods and earn at the wet market. One of them accidentally gets a pack of drugs in one of the trucks. This "blessing in disguise" threatens to hasten their journey into the afterlife.

The 2nd Sinag Maynila Film Festival will run from April 21 to 26.

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