Angel Aquino(above) and Robbie Felongco prepare for one of their last scenes in God Only Knows. Mylene Dizon(top) plays out the best role of her life, a cancerstrickenwoman who only has 100 days to live via the film 100.

IN the first few years of the legendary band Eraserheads, it had a minor hit song titled “Hey Jay,” which is about a gay male’s struggle to be accepted in the homophobic society he tries to fit in. Nearly a decade later, there’s the story about two Jays, one is a gay TV producer documenting the family of another Jay, a gay hate-crime victim.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest outside Davao City, during the last part of World War II, a special piano concert is being held. Present day in Manila, a musician regains his being human when he gives violin lessons to a child in the slums.

In another world, we are brought to the funny, bloodsucking lives of technical-support call-center agents with their fake American accent.

There’s also Ruby, a prolific writer, abandoned wife and protective mother who writes about Mario, a taxi driver who becomes a father figure to a street child.

Outside Manila, there’s a lady diagnosed with cancer and is given only three months to live. We wonder what she will do in her last 100 days.

To know the ending to all these stories, we are given only 16 days. But there’s more as Cinemalaya again unleashes fresh stories from the new breed of brave and creative indie filmmakers, starting July 11 to 20.

What we mentioned above are plots of some of the 10 competing films for the full-length feature film category. For the shorts, there are also 10 finalists.

Like in previous years, the 4th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival “seeks to discover, encourage and honor the cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.”

In the full-length feature-film category, each of the 10 finalists received a P500,000 seed grant from Cinemalaya Foundation Inc. as investment for the production. 

The Best Short Feature Film will receive P100,000 and the Balanghai Trophy, while the Best Full-length Feature Film will receive a grant of P200,000 and the Balanghai Trophy. Awards for both categories will be given on July 20 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

For the full-length feature film category, the finalists are Baby Angelo by Joel Ruiz and Abi Aquino; Boses by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil; Brutus by Tara Illenberger; Concerto by Paul Alexander Morales; Huling Pasada by Paul Sta. Ana; Jay by Francis Xavier E. Pasion; My Fake American Accent by Onnah Valera; Namets by Emilio “Jay” Abello; and Ranchero by Michael Christian Cardoz.

The full-length feature film category finalists were selected from a total of 194 entries.

For the short-film category: Andong by Rommel “Milo” Tolentino;  Ang Ibang Mga Pamilya by Joel Ruiz;Angan-Angan (Dreams) by Sheron Dayoc;  Diamante sa Langit by Vic Acedillo Jr.; God Only Knows by Mark Reyes;  Huling Biktima by Vitaliano Rave; My Pet by Anna Bigornia; Panggaris by Dexter Cayanes;Trails of Water by Sheron Dayoc; and Tutos by LA Yamsuan. For the entire festival, about a hundred films will be on exhibition. Nine films will be competing for the Rene O. Villanueva Prize, in honor of the late children’s book author. Presented in cooperation with the National Council for Children’s Television, the Cinemalaya Children’s Section will be dedicated to short narrative features made for viewing of children ages 3 to 13.

In honor of the late, legendary filmmaker Manuel Conde, six of his finest films will be shown:  Genghis Khan (1950), Ibong Adarna (1955), Verganza (1958), Señorito (1953), Cruz na Kawayan (1956) and El Robo (1957).  The book The Cinema of Manuel Conde by Dr. Nicanor Tiongson will be launched on July 16.

The Film Congress will be on July 15 and 16 at the CCP Little Theater. The theme will be “Spreading the News:  Promoting, Distributing and Exhibiting Indie Films.” Topics to be discussed by experts are “Making Indie Films: Self-Expression, Social Commitment, Compromise”; “Promoting Indie Films: Building Audiences for Indie Films”; “Distributing Indie Films: Systems Legal to Illegal”; and “Exhibiting Indie Films: From Cine Katipunan to Cannes.”

Now on its fourth year, Cinemalaya is presented by the Cinemalaya Foundation, CCP, the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Econolink Investments Inc.   

***For tickets, call the CCP Marketing Department at 551-7930 or 832-1125, locals 1800 to 1808, or the CCP Box Office at 832-3704 0r 832-1125, local 1409.

Dive into lovely lakeside living

ONE special summer weekend worth looking back to was my visit to 10-hectare Club Balay Isabel in barangay Banga in Talisay, Batangas.

Reeling: In Praise of the Last Ones

IF history is like Neruda’s awaiting for a “symmetrical time beyond measure—el tiempo uniforme, sin medida...,” then Baler and its stories of gallant Spanish soldiers defending a church, a territory sacred, must be a site of facts and fictions rolled into one historical volume. Baler is a place anticipating a thick description.

Fresh, engaging stories from the indies

IN the first few years of the legendary band Eraserheads, it had a minor hit song titled “Hey Jay,” which is about a gay male’s struggle to be accepted in the homophobic society he tries to fit in. Nearly a decade later, there’s the story about two Jays, one is a gay TV producer documenting the family of another Jay, a gay hate-crime victim.

Late and Great

JACK NICHOLSON’S Joker was a blast. Heath Ledger’s Joker is as dark and anarchic a figure as Randle McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the role that brought Nicholson his first Academy Award. Ledger’s performance in the Batman tale The Dark Knight is so remarkable that next January 22, the one-year anniversary of his death, he could become just the seventh actor in Oscar history to earn a posthumous nomination.

Weak bones not anymore just a senior moment

‘LIFE isn’t fair” is possibly one of the most annoying things you’re likely to hear from others. Ask that elderly couple who spent a good part of their youth taking care of their family and extended family.