Nora Aunor, Weng-Weng and More at 21st Annual Facine Festival

FACINE/21, the 21st annual filipino international cine festival opens with Australian filmmaker, Andrew Leavold’s THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG, a loving tribute to Philippines’ littlest action hero, the two feet nine Weng Weng, on December 11, Thursday, 7 pm and will close with the critically-acclaimed Mikhail Red’s debut film REKORDER, an urban thriller about a video recorder who gets unwittingly involved in a murder, on December 13, Saturday at 9:00 p.m.

"The Search for Weng-Weng" by Andrew Leavold

The festival, co-presented with Global Filipino Network and West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center, and sponsored by PAWA, Inc., runs from December 11 through December 13 at the Roxie Theater, 3117 – 16thStreet, San Francisco.

The annual festival, the longest-running event in the US, has been the premier showcase of new works and Filipino film classics in the United States for the past 21 years. It is organized by FACINE or filipino arts & cinema, international, a not-for-profit media arts organization based in San Francisco that aims to advance the interests of cinemas from the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora.

Festival co-presentors are West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center, the oldest Filipino nonprofit social service agency in Northern California that provides services to Filipino and other low-income families of color, including college preparation assistance for the youth; and the Global Filipino Network, a California-registered nonprofit that aims to connect and empower Filipinos across the globe through education and outreach using media and technology. 

This year’s festival highlights the special screenings of important films by esteemed independent filmmaker, Raymond Red, the first Filipino who earned major film honors in a top-tier foreign film festival – Cannes’ 2000 Camera D’Or for his short film, ANINO/Shadows – and also, this year’s FACINE Gintong Ani Award; and the gala screening of the much-awaited Mes de Guzman’s ANG KWENTO NI MABUTI/Mabuti’s story starring the Philippines’ Superstar Nora Aunor on Friday, December 12 at 7 pm.

"Ang Kuwento Ni Mabuti" starring Nora Aunor

A wide array of new works by filmmakers from the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora on varying subjects and genre will be presented in different programs.

Major sponsor of this year’s festival is PAWA or the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc., a nonprofit organization of Filipino American writers and artists whose main goal is to create and encourage literature and arts for the preservation and enrichment of Filipino and Filipino American historical, cultural and spiritual values.

For more information and full program schedule, please see website: www.facinesf.com. For further information, email:mtumbocon@gmail.com or call: 415-756-7331 or for advanced tickets purchase, check website: www.roxie.com