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For those who want to help, there is always a way

Alexandra Trese discovers who ‘The Siren’s Executioner’ is

Phase Four of the superhero franchise sure brings a lot of star power

The scenic Roxas Boulevard running along the shores of Manila Bay in Metro Manila is packed with stories of the past. Not just for the wonderful sunsets, it’s the same ground holding the 109-year-old Manila Hotel and iconic 58-hectare Luneta Park. A place where the old world meets the new, Roxas Boulevard takes pride in being among notable seaside thoroughfares.

The National Museum of the Philippines is hosting the ASEAN Museum Congress 2021, an online international conference of museum professionals and heritage stakeholders, from Oct. 26 to 28, 2021.

Culinary and performing arts experts-practitioners have collaborated to showcase the rich tradition and heritage of Filipino cuisine and its role in the Filipino cultural identity in an original 30-minute film entitled “Estamos Llenos,” slated to be aired from Monday, Oct. 25 to Friday, Oct. 30, 2021.

Creating connections

Better grab your popcorns—well, maybe not

IATF allows the re-opening of cinemas Finally, movie cinemas are given the go-signal by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to operate at 30 percent indoor venue capacity. Are we ready to see “No Time to Die,” “Eternals,” “Spiderman: No Way Home,” “Dune,” and other local flicks on the big screen? We got in touch with some of our local film companies to share their thoughts on this development after almost a year and a half of “house arrest.” Quark Henares, who heads Globe Studios, thinks a theatrical experience during the COVID-19 pandemic is possible. “I’ve experienced that firsthand in the Venice and Locarno film festivals,” he says. “Thousands of people came and I didn’t hear of any cases.” The MBA graduate from the USC Marshall School of Business prefers the communal theatrical experience. “It’s like going to mass for me,” he says. “It’s about being together with other people and being told a story—almost a campfire experience on steroids.” In the IATF guidelines, the moviegoers should follow the no eating/drinking, no holding hands, no removing of face mask, seats apart, and for fully vaccinated only rule. Globe Studios teamed up with Upstream, a transactional video-on-demand platform that replaced the theatrical window. “It’s especially hard in the Philippines because piracy is so rampant,” says the Keka director. Founded by Vic del Rosario Jr., Viva Films has been producing films since 1981. “We can at least finally release films meant for the cinemas, which are the big budget ones,” says Tina Tubongbanua, head of Licensing and Acquisitions of Viva Communications, Inc. “We are preparing for the opening and will probably start releasing by November so that we have time to promote our films. For the licensing part, having films released in the cinemas increases the market value of a film. “We just launched our own streaming platform, Vivamax where we release two movies a month.” Among the new films in the Vivamax library are “Shoot! Shoot!,” “Ang Manananggal na Nahahati ang Puso, Paraluman,” “Kagat ng Dilim: Toktok,” among others. “The reason also why we launched this service is for us to satisfy the audience’s thirst for Filipino movies and other foreign ones too,” says the 54-year-old Viva executive. Madonna G. Tarrayo, president/CEO of UXS Inc., who produces Unitel films, thinks cinema and streaming need to co-exist peacefully and should be complementary. “The pandemic has changed a lot of our habits because now, health is something we value more,” she says. Unitel, which last produced Whistleblower (2016), is on the lookout for new projects. “We have a few concepts in the pipeline and if the re-opening becomes successful, I think it is going to expand our audience and help recoupment in the process,” says Madonna, a cum laude graduate from the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication. To watch or not to watch inside a cinema is the question for all moviegoers. “Having a choice is crucial in how we live our lives,” answers the CineFilipino festival director. “I think even cinema viewing is a democratic choice—the audience wants to be given a choice.” With the health and safety protocols that need to be followed, it has become more and more expensive for film companies to produce movies. “The closure of cinemas has deprived film producers of their main source of income,” says John Paul E. Abellera, creative manager, ABS-CBN Films.

As the Philippines enters a new era of political campaigns for the big government seats, people are quick to do background checks of 2022 election aspirants. Among the topics that arise in everyone’s conversation is the role of the Marcos family in the country’s history. One film has been a point reference by many and that is the 2019 documentary, “The Kingmaker.”

They have reinvented themselves through online tech
In this day and age where access to online technology is quite easy for most artists, they no longer have any excuse not to share their creativity. Take the case of Narda, the Filipino indie band from the 2000s, whose members, even though living in different parts of the world while working in different professions, have regrouped virtually to reinvent themselves into a file-swapping studio band—all in pursuit of their love for music.

‘It was the best year of my life at the worst possible time’

‘Social media helps us connect more with others, but the irony here is that it also causes a disconnect’

Palacio de Memoria offers a two-day outdoor fair open to all art enthusiasts and visitors

The single features the works of Filipino artist Jaime Pacena II

The newly released track is part of her upcoming album that speaks of her life as a mother, her fraught childhood, and her lost marriage

No worries! What they did was definitely child’s play

Here are the winners of this year’s ‘Kulay Sa Tubig’