PHL Pavilion at Venice Biennale Earns Praises from Visiting VIPs

May 19, 2015

“I think it’s a great show,” says Renaud Proch referring to the Philippine Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.
 
Proch, Executive Director of Independent Curators International (ICI), is one of the guests at the vernissage of the Philippine Pavilion who commended curator Patrick D. Flores for seamlessly weaving together the works of Manuel Conde and Carlos Francisco (for Genghis Khan), Manny Montelibano (for A Dashed State), and Jose Tence Ruiz (for Shoal).
 
“It’s really nice to see it coming together. It is […]

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Cannes Film Review: ‘Taklub’

May 19, 2015

Brillante Mendoza’s film offers an intimate yet detached portrait of survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.
“Taklub,” Filipino auteur Brillante Mendoza’s portrait of three surviving families a year after Typhoon Yolanda ripped through the city of Tacloban, is more concerned with their emotional devastation than with the physical aftermath. Shot in a no-frills documentary style that echoes its subjects’ deprivation, the film is at once intimate and detached in its dramatic economy, though the finale will leave many viewers saddened yet humbled. Without […]

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Cannes You Dig It?: Episode 3

May 19, 2015

It’s odd to leave Cannes not having fallen fully in love… with a movie.
I have one more shot this morning before heading to the airport… Sorrentino’s Youth, which is already part of the Searchlight family. I will miss the Gaspar Noe as well as Michel Franco’s Chronic, for which I have hopes. There’s also a Hou Hsiao-Hsien. And no doubt, there will be fireworks in the Fassbender/Cotillard Macbeth, though placement as the closer is almost always bad news.
I really liked a lot of […]

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‘Taklub’ : Cannes Review

May 19, 2015

Philippine cinema grand dame Nora Aunor headlines Brillante Mendoza’s ensemble drama about survivors grieving over loved ones lost during the devastating typhoon Haiyan
Having attained international fame (and a Best Director prize at Cannes) in 2009 with the relentlessly brutal corrupted-cop thriller Kinatay, Philippine director Brillante Mendoza might have raised a few eyebrows last year when he revealed his latest project being a government-backed project about natural disaster risk protection. Fears of the indie auteur peddling propaganda could now be allayed, […]

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Loren Takes Pride in Taklub, A 2015 Cannes Selection

May 18, 2015

Senator Loren Legarda today said she takes pride in Taklub, a film directed by Brillante Mendoza, not only for its inclusion in the 68th Cannes Film Festival but also because of the relevant message of the film, which mainstreams disaster risk reduction (DRR).
 
“I am very proud of this project because we are again showcasing Filipino talent with a cause. It is amazing how Direk Brillante was able to combine drama and advocacy flawlessly. Taklub will deeply touch one’s heart, at the same time it imparts […]

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