Kidlat Tahimik
The TINGIN ASEAN Film Festival returns a second time on Nov. 26 to 29 at the Gateway Cineplex.
The impressive film selection of TINGIN this year includes “Yasmine” (Brunei), “A Copy Of My Mind” (Indonesia), “Vientiane In Love” (Lao PDR), “The Monk” (Myanmar), “Hush” (Singapore), “The Road To Mandalay” (ASEAN x Taiwan), “Homogenous, Empty Time” (Thailand), and “Big Father, Small Father And Other Stories” (Vietnam).
Of particular interest is Dain Said’s “Dukun” (Malaysia), which is loosely based on the true story of gruesome murder of a former Malaysian politician, Datuk Mazlan Idris by Mona Fandey, a once popular Malaysian singer-turned-witch doctor. It wrapped up production in 2006, but it was only released this year. “Dukun’s” inclusion in this ASEAN film festival will be the first time that it will be officially screened outside of Malaysia.
Award-winning Cambodian director Kulikar Sotho will be in Manila for “The Last Reel,” his film chosen to open the festival. National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik will also show his foundational films “Perfumed Nightmare” and “Who Invented the Yoyo? Who Invented the Buggy?”
“Yield,” Victor Tarago’s quietly powerful documentary, will also enthrall with its “stark portrayal of child labor and pervasive poverty in the Philippines.”
Special sessions have been arranged for the audiences to better appreciate the creative processes of our film directors:
– Master class by Kulikar Sotho, Director (“The Last Reel,” Cambodia) on Nov. 26, 3:15 p.m. in Cinema 1; – Master class by Victor Tagaro, Director (“Yield,” Philippines) on Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. in Cinema 6 will immediately follow the screening, at 3:15 p.m.; – Lecture: The Art of Kidlat Tahimik on Nov. 28 at 2:40 p.m. in Cinema 6, set between the screenings of his short films.
Admission to all the events (film screenings and master classes) is free of charge.