POSTSCRIPT, FACINE/21: TOWARDS DEVELOPING A MASS AUDIENCE OF FILIPINO INDEPENDENT FILM IN THE US When FACINE - the Filipino arts & cinema, international - made the decision to hold the annual filipino international cine festival at the Roxie Theater this year, the Roxie, being an arthouse repertory theater with a history of screening avant-garde, independent, foreign films, it was with the full intent to bring the festival to mainstream visibility - certainly, a big leap - so that the younger Filipino Americans, and hopefully, immigrant-cineastes, as well as non-Filipino foreign film enthusiasts, will come, support and embrace Filipino cinema as their own. Myself, as festival director, sought to include works that will be a mix of serious films, critical favorites, unconventional works as well as movies with popular appeal, and for the first time, in its 21 years, attempted to engage in aggressive marketing and mass outreach. All in all, the three-day festival was a big success, by all those measures; with the immense support of its community partners - co-presentors West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center and Global Filipino Network and sponsors, Philippine American Writers and Artists and the Philippines National Commission for Culture and the Arts and a host of donors via our gofundme campaign - the festival indeed, attracted major media coverage (SF Weekly, sfgate, Philippine News, Asian Journal, inquirer.net, positivelyfilipino, theglobalfilipino) for which FACINE is eternally grateful. The festival, especially its most popular programs - the Shorts Program: LOST SOULS, STRANGE TIMES; ANG KWENTO NI MABUTI; HIMPAPAWID/ANINO; and THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG special screenings - generated goodwill and audience acceptance that it received invitations to hold similar events in other cities like Seattle and Sacramento! All of these have encouraged me and the rest of FACINE volunteer staff (Sheila Alix, Rembrandt Vocalan, Neil Torrefiel, Jethro Patalinghug, Toto Matillano) to make the event better the next time. My personal thanks to all of them and the other volunteers. Also, FACINE extends its appreciation to the media people who did the festival coverage: Mila de Guzman of inquirer.net and Malvina Wong of TFC/Balitang Amerika. Likewise, my personal thanks to Clinton Morales for hosting our special guest, Raymond Red and Mark Meily for technical support. Most importantly, I thank all film producers, directors, writers, actors who were represented in the films shown in the festival; and to our special guests, FACINE/21 Gintong Ani Awardee, Raymond Red; Andrew Leavold, Roberto Reyes Ang, Jeremy Monsayac, Janice Villarosa for spending time with us. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat! Kitakits tayong lahat sa FACINE/22! - Mauro Feria Tumbocon, Jr., Festival Director (Photo credits: Clinton Morales, Rembrandt Vocalan, Sheila Alix, Malvina Wong, Jethro Patalinghug).
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 04:58:35 +0000
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