Cultural Center of the Philippines

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Reyna Ng Aliwan 2019 Press Presentation

Posted by Norman on April 22, 2019
Posted in: 1 Pageant Pages, 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .


Manila Broadcasting Company, Star City and the Cultural Center of the Philippines – in cooperation with the cities of Manila and Pasay – once again celebrate the country’s biggest and most popular festivals the way we Filipinos love it – as a series of visual spectacles now known as the Aliwan Fiesta, which opens to the public on April 25-27 at the CCP Complex.

Part of the festivities is the search for this year’s Festival Queen who will be selected on pageant night this coming Friday, April 26, with her coronation scheduled after the Grand Parade and Street Showdown on Saturday, April 27 during the Awarding Ceremonies at 9pm.

There are 23 ladies in the hunt for #ReynaNgAliwan2019, and they represent different festivals throughout the Philippines.


1. Honey Be Parreñas – Kalimudan Festival of Sultan Kudarat
2. Angelie Olmedo – Pintados de Passi Festival of Passi City, Iloilo
3. Milca Romares – Salapan Festival of Pulupandan, Negros Occidental
4. Aubrhie Cindyrelle Carpio – Singkaban Festival of Bulacan
5. Kizia Jermaine Maligalig – Tagultol Fishing Festival of Atimonan, Quezon
6. Gezza Avila – Niyogyugan Festival of Quezon Province
7. Angelin Summer Fernandez – Kalivungan Festival of North Cotabato
8. Frenzie Dionne Escalada – MunaTo Festival of Sarangani

9. Erginia Vera Bautista – Banatu Festival of Cabanatuan City
10. Lyka Veleña – Boling Boling Festival of Catanauan, Quezon
11. Kim Naz – Antipolo Maytime Festival
12. Leandrea Batingan – Tanglawan Festival of San Jose del Monte, Bulacan
13. Deborah Belen Villaflores – Buglasan Festival of Dumaguete, Negros Oriental (delayed flight; will check-in tonight)
14. Princess Serdenia – Zamboanga Hermosa Festival
15. Nicole Borromeo – Sinulog Festival of Cebu
16. Alayzza Izzabelle Tolimao – Agten Tufi Festival of Tupi, South Cotabato
17. Merhyl Kit Angeline Paraluman – Tuna Festival of General Santos City

18. Roi Neeve Comanda – Panagbenga Festival of Baguio City
19. Charlotte Arcena – Pasaka Festival of Tanauan, Leyte
20. Cassandra Marie Cassey Lee – Sangyaw Festival of Tacloban City
21. Ma. Kristina Ramos – Cocowayan Festival of Isabela, Basilan
22. Jhan Nicole Ambata – Paru-Paro Festival of Dasmariñas, Cavite
23. Cinderella Salilican – Pangisdaan Festival of Navotas

Early favorites are Gezza Avila, Leandrea Batingan, Nicole Borromeo, Roi Neeve Comanda and Cassandra Lee.

Let’s see who will succeed last year’s Chelsea Fernandez.

Movie watch: “Aparisyon” (Apparition)

Posted by Norman on July 7, 2012
Posted in: 6 The Movie Corner. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .


courtesy of autodidactfilm

In my continuing support of the Filipino indie film, I am featuring one movie that intrigued me after watching the trailer. “Aparisyon” (Apparition) is a finalist in the New Breed category of 2012 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition.

I’ve always had this fascination with the life of cloistered nuns. I grew up spending four years of my life inside a seminary in Bulacan where a small portion of the property housed a monastery with around 20 of the contemplative discipline residing. It’s as if one has committed a sin should an attempt to speak with them be made. In fact, the only instances when I got to see their faces was through steel bars on the sacristy side whenever I visited their chapel during an annual holy feast in honor of a specific saint significant to their order. And I always have had nagging questions in my mind about their daily existence – all left unanswered up until my last day as a seminarian (I lost my vocation during senior year) .

Jodi Sta. Maria stars as a young nun who experienced an act of violence in “Aparisyon”

Set in the early 70s, “Aparisyon” is a psychological drama that follows a group of conservative nuns in the Philippine hinterlands in the months leading to the 1972 declaration of Martial Law by former President Ferdinand Marcos. The moral dilemma arises when one of the young nuns fall prey to an act of violence. Directed by US-based Filipino director Vincent Sandoval, this is his second full-length feature after last year’s “Senorita” which was exhibited in several film festivals in the US and Europe.

“Aparisyon” stars Mylene Dizon, Jodi Sta. Maria, Raquel Villavicencio and Fides Cuyugan-Asensio. It will have its red-carpet premiere at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 26, at 6:15 PM. Click on the several links above to signify your support for the movie. If you are unable to attend this event, then catch it during the festival’s regular run from July 20-29.

Juana Change? Watch this video!

Posted by Norman on September 17, 2011
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks. Tagged: , , , , , , , .


courtesy of soulahhh

My good friend, stage/TV actress and commercial director Mae Paner (aka “Juana Change”), came up with the “Blasphemy” video above which throws potshots against people who made a big brouhaha of the recent controversy involving artist Mideo Cruz and his “anti-Christ” art exhibit at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Watch in its entirety and share your thoughts.

And if you enjoyed it, check out her other Juana Change offerings like the ones below. Her videos elicit a lot of laughs, but pregnantly phlegmatic laughs at that. She pinches alright…the type that sinks through the skin’s first layer. Ouch!

additional videos courtesy of soulahhh as well

Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2011 opens today

Posted by Norman on July 15, 2011
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks, 6 The Movie Corner. Tagged: , , , , , .


Cinemalaya 2011 TV Commercial
courtesy of voyagestudios

Time to support Filipino Films once more, and hopefully in a big way.

Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2011 officially starts todays and runs till the 24th. Screening venues are at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Greenbelt 3 Cinemas Makati.

If you want to know the specific screening schedules of the films you want to watch, click HERE.

For film enthusiast/students around Quezon City and surrounding areas who may miss the whole thing, you’re in luck because the competing films will also be screened at UP Diliman starting July 26-August 5 with this corresponding schedule.

So what are you waiting for? Buy your tickets now, or better yet, get a festival* or flexi pass**! 😉

*Festival Pass (PHP 2000)
– access to all 15 competing films (ie. 13 full-length films and 2 short features programs)
– access to 8 Netpac films
– souvenir program
– priority lane access to venues

**Flexi Pass (PHP 3000)
– access to all 15 competing films (ie. 13 full-length films and 2 short features programs)
– access to 8 Netpac films
– access to 8 Exhibition films of your choice
– souvenir program
– priority lane access to venues

Cinemalaya 2011 teaser: bigger, bolder and more star-studded

Posted by Norman on June 10, 2011
Posted in: 2 Shout-out-Looks, 6 The Movie Corner. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

“Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa” (The Dance of Two Left Feet)
directed by Alvin Yapan, starring Jean Garcia, Paulo Avelino and Rocco Nacino

courtesy of VYACProd

“Busong” (Palawan Fate)
directed by Auraeus Solito, starring Alessandra de Rossi and Clifford Banagale

courtesy of cinephiliade

“Patikul“ (the word refers to a poor municipality in Sulu)
directed by Joel Lamangan, starring Marvin Agustin, Glaiza de Castro, Ciara Sotto, Allen Dizon, Angeli Nicole Sanoy

courtesy of drmwvrjohn

“Isda“ (Fable of the Fish)
directed by Adolf Alix Jr., starring Cherry Pie Picache, Angel Aquino, Bembol Roco, Evelyn Vargas and Anita Linda

courtesy of bicyclepix

“Immanuel”
directed by Gabriel “Gio” Puyat, starring Ping Medina

courtesy of akosipuyat

Here’s the Official Press Release of Cinemalaya 2011 which will run from July 15-24, 2011:

Thirty one new digital films compete in 2011 Cinemalaya

Thirty one new digital films will compete in the 2011 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in Manila from July 15 to 24, 2011. Now on its seventh year, Cinemalaya is a project of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Film Development Council of the Philippines and Econolink Investments, Inc. It is an all-digital film festival that aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity. Cinemalaya’s main competition categories are the New Breed full feature category and the Short Feature category featuring works by new directors. The Directors Showcase is a competition for works by established directors.

Nine films will compete in the New Breed full length feature category; ten in the Short feature category and four in the Directors Showcase. Competing in the New Breed category are: Amok (Amok) by Lawrence Fajardo; Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) by Chris Martinez; Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa (The Dance of Two Left Feet) by Alemberg Ang and Alvin Yapan; Baby Factory by Eduardo W. Roy, Jr. and Jerome Zamora; Cuchera by Joseph Israel M. Laban and Janice O’Hara; I-libings: Your Loss, Our Luck (E-funerals) by Rommel Andreo Sales; Ligo na U, Lapit Na Me by Noel Ferrer, Jerry Gracio and Erick Salud; Niño by Loy Arcenas; and Teoriya (Father’s Way) by Alistaire Christian E. Chan.

The nine finalists of the New Breed Full Length Feature category each received a P500,000 seed grant from the Cinemalaya Foundation as investment for the production. The Best Full Length Feature Film will receive a prize of P200,000 and the Balanghai Trophy. The New Breed Full Length feature category is open to Filipino filmmakers who have not yet directed more than three full feature films.

The ten finalists in the Short Feature category are: Oliver’s Apartment by Misha Balangue, Hanapbuhay (Source of Living) by Henry Frejas, Un Diutay Mundo(one Small World) by Ana Carlyn V. Lim, Immanuel by Gabriel “Gio” Puyat, Hazardby Mikhail Red, Walang Katapusang Kwarto (An Endless Room) by Emerson Reyes, Debut by Pamela Llanes Reyes, Samarito (Smaritan) by Rafael L. Santos,Every Other Time by Gino M. Santos, and Nino Bonito by Rommel “Milo” Tolentino. The winner of the Short Feature Category will receive a prize of P100,000.00 and the Balanghai trophy.

The four finalists in the Directors Showcase are: Bisperas (Eve) by Jeffrey Jeturian; Busong (Palawan Fate) by Auraeus Solito; Isda (Fable of the Fish) by Adolfo Alix Jr. and Patikul by Joel C. Lamangan. The finalists of the Directors showcase each received a P500,000 seed grant from the Cinemalaya Foundation. The Best Film in the Directors Showcase will receive a prize of P300,000 and the Balanghai Trophy. The Directors Showcase is open to full length feature works by Filipino directors who have directed at least three full-length commercial feature films.

For the first time, this year’s Cinemalaya Festival will include a section called Focus Asia that will feature eight independent works by Asian directors. Other sections of the Cinemalaya are the NETPAC Philippine Premieres with eight competing films, Ani (a harvest of the best Filipino Indie Films of the past year), Kids Treats (indie films for children) and Midnight Specials (indie films with adult themes). Cinemalaya will also organize the Cinemalaya Film Congress and other film related events such as the Sine Taktakan (forum with 2011 Cinemalaya filmmakers), lectures and exhibits.

The Festival will be held in seven venues at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and at the Greenbelt 3 cinemas in Makati City. The opening ceremony is slated on July 15, 6:00 pm followed by the festival opening film at the CCP main theater. The Cinemalaya Awards Night will be held on July 24, 7:00 pm at the same venue.

For more information, please visit www.cinemalaya.org or www.culturalcenter.gov.ph or the CCP facebook page.

So start saving up some money now for the popularly-priced tickets! Let’s all support the internationally-renowned local indies which have brought honors to the country for many years now. 😉

Cinemalaya Indie Film Fest 2010 has just started!

Posted by Norman on July 9, 2010
Posted in: 6 The Movie Corner. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

For all film buffs out there, the 2010 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition has just started today and will run until July 18 with the main venue at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Opening movie for the festival is Hubo Productions’ ‘Ganap na Babae‘ (Full-pledged Woman). It stars Mercedes Cabral, Sue Prado, Jam Perez and Ms. Boots Anson-Roa. Three stories are interwoven to see the plight of Filipino women from the sensitive eyes of three contemporary women directors – Rica Arevalo, Ellen Ramos and Sarah Roxas.

There will be three main sections – New Breed, Directors’ Showcase and Short Films. Included in the Directors’ Showcase are Joel C. Lamangan’s Sigwa (Storm), Mario O’Hara’s Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio (The Trial of Andres Bonifacio), Joselito Altarejos’ Pink Halo-Halo, Mark Meily’s Donor and Gil M. Portes’ Two Funerals.

Meanwhile, in the New Breed section, viewers will be treated to the likes of Francis Pasion’s Sampaguita National Flower, Danilo Anonuevo’s Rekrut (Recruit), Dan Villegas’ Mayohan, Art Katipunan’s Si Techie, Si Teknoboy at Si JuanaB, Dennis Marasigan’s Vox Populi, Ian Lorenos’ The Leaving, Kim Homer Garcia’s Magkakapatid (Siblings), Sheron Dayoc’s Halaw, and Gutierrez Mangansakan II’s Limbunan.

Additionally, there will be exhibition films bannered under Cinemalaya Netpac Premieres and some of the entries in this like-up are TJ Trinidad’s Mikak, Khavn dela Cruz’ The Trial of Mister Serapio and Adolfo Alix, Jr.’s Muli. There will also be Midnite Treats, Kids Treats, Special Screenings and a Harvest of the Year’s Best.

If you want to know more about the screening schedules of the movies above and where to get tickets, visit the festival’s website by clicking HERE.