THE 9TH CINEMANILA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Cinemanila to Give Bulol Trophy and P1M Worth of Prizes for Its Awards

In its ninth year, the Cinemanila International Film Festival (CIFF) will award cash prizes amounting to P1M. The Festival will give recognition for the first time to the Best ASEAN Film. This coincides with CIFF’s ASEAN Film Focus, the Festival’s celebration of the ASEAN’s 40th anniversary. A cash prize of P250,000.00 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 P50,000.00.

The CIFF will continue to give awards for the Digital Lokal, International Cinema, and Young Cinema competitions. The prizes are: Digital Lokal (Lino Award, Grand Prize) – P250,000.00; Digital Lokal (Lino Grand Jury Prize) – P150,000; Ishmael Bernal Award for Young Cinema – P70,000.00; Best Short Film – P30,000.00; Lino Brocka Award (Grand Prize, International Cinema) – P150,000.00; and Best International Short Film – P50,000.00.

Aside from the cash prize, Cinemanila will award all winners with the bulol trophy. This sacred bulol is invoked every year as prayer for a bountiful harvest of excellent Filipino films. The trophy is a work of Napoleon Abueva, National Artist for Sculpture.

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.