[PARTNER] FACINE 26, The 26th Annual Filipino International Cine Festival

AWARD-WINNING FILMS IN COMPETITION AT FACINE 26
THE 26TH ANNUAL FILIPINO INTERNATIONAL CINE FESTIVAL & COMPETITION,
OCTOBER 18-20 AT THE ROXIE THEATER, SAN FRANCISCO;
SHORT FILMS COMPETITION, OCTOBER 26 AT THE
INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANILATOWN CENTER

The longest-running festival of films from the Philippines and the Filipino diaspora, FACINE presents its strongest programming in years with diverse collection of new films

San Francisco, September 20, 2019 – FACINE 26, the 26th  annual filipino international cine festival & competition opens with Khavn de la Cruz's epic, impressionist historical film, BALANGIGA: HOWLING WILDERNESS on October 18, Friday and closes with Joselito Altarejos's masterwork of a social realist drama, JINO TO MARI, to be followed by Arnel Mardoquio's provocative political film, ALMA-ATA, on October 20, Sunday.

The festival organized by the Filipino Arts & Cinema International or FACINE runs October 18-20 at the Roxie Theater, 3117 – 16th Street, San Francisco which features ten full-length films; the Short Films competition follows on October 26, 6-9 pm at the International Hotel Manilatown Center, 868 Kearny Street, San Francisco.

The annual festival, the longest-running event in the US, has been the premier showcase of new works for the past 26 years. FACINE, 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.

Community partners include PAWA (Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc., Kultivate Labs/Undiscovered, the Manilatown Heritage Foundation and the International Southeast Asian Film Festival. The Filipino Channel (TFC) is the festival’s media sponsor.

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.

For more information and full program schedule, please see website: www.facine.org. For further information, email: mtumbocon@gmail.com or text: 415-410-9566 and for tickets purchase, see  website: www.facine.org  or www.roxie.com, festival passes and group rates available. For inquiries: boxoffice@facine.org

The following is the final schedule of film screenings.

Friday, October 18, 2019            Doors open at 6 pm

7-9 pm: BALANGIGA: HOWLING WILDERNESS, in English and Waray with English subtitles, QCinema International Film Festival, Kamias Overground, Philippines, 2018. TRT: 1:55;39
Directed and music direction by Khavn (Khavn De La Cruz)
Written by Jerry Gracio, Achinette Villamor and Khavn.
Stars Justine Samson, Pio del Rio, Warren Tuano
1901, Filipino American War, Balangiga, Samar. Eight year old Kulas flees his village, Balangiga, with his grandfather and their carabao, to escape General Smtith Kill-and-Burn order.

Gawad Urian 2018 Best Film, Music; FAMAS 2018 Best Picture, Original Screenpkay, Cinematography, Production design; QC IFF 2917 Best Film, Direction, Lead Actor

9:30 - 11 pm: A SHORT HISTORY OF A FEW BAD THINGS, in English and in Bisaya and Tagalog with English subtitles, Binisaya, ABS-CBN Films, Cinema One Originals, Philippines, 2018, (TRT: 1:27:12)
Stars Victor Neri, Jay Gonzaga, Maricel Sombrio, Publio Briones III
Directed by Keith Deligero; written by Paul Grant
A shooting murder in broad daylight in the streets of Cebul a senior detective is assigned to the case, encountering dead end upon dead end, without realizing the suspect is closer than what he thinks.

FAMAS 2019 Best Lead Actor

Saturday, October 19, 2019        Doors open at 1 pm

2 - 4 pm: DAPOL TAN PAYAWAR NA TAYUG, 1931 [the ashes and ghosts of Tayug, 1931] in Pangasinan and Iloko languages with English subtitles, QCinema, Sine Caboloan, IdeaFirst Company, October Train Films, HYDEntertainment, Philippines, 2017. TRT: 1:55:01
Directed and written by Christopher Gozum
Stars Fe GingGing Hyde, Donna Cariaga, Perry Dizon, Cedrick Juan, Soliman Cruz
An experimental documentary which reimagines the life of agrarian leader, Pedro Calosa, and the colorum uprising of farmers in Tayug, Pangasinan in 1931.

Gawad Urian 2018 Best Screenplay; QC IFF 2017; QC II 2017 NETPAC award

4:30 - 6:30 pm: KUNG PAANO SIYA NAWALA [why she left], in Tagalog with English subtitles, TBA Studios, Tuko Film Production, Butchi Boy Films, Arkeo Films, Philippines, 2018. TRT: 1:46:50
Stars JM de Guzman, Rhian Ramos, Agot Isidro
Directed by Joel Ruiz; Written by Aloy Adlawan, Joel Ruiz
A young man cannot seem to make healthy relationship because of an ailment, face aphasia, until some young woman comes along, but.

FAMAS 2019 Best Editing

7 - 9 pm: GUSTO KITA WITH ALL MY HYPOTHALAMUS [i want you with all my hypothalamus], in Tagalog with English subtitles, Cine Filipino, Cignal Entertainment, Epic Media, Quiapo Collective, Monoxide Works, Unitel Straighshooters, IdeaFirst Company, Philippines, 2018. TRT: 1:38:51
Directed and written by Dwein Ruedas Dwein Baltazar
Stars Iana Bernardez, Nicco Manalo, Anthony Falcon, Soliman Cruz, Dylan Ray Talon
Sashaying in the streets of Manila's university belt, a young woman-student becomes the object of desire of four men.

FAMAS 2019 Best film, direction, original screenplay

9:30 - 11 pm: PUR LAINE, in English and Tagalog and French with English subtitles, Canada, 2018.
Directed, written and edited by Alexander Cruz.
Stars Celestine Alpas Caravaggio, Isabelle Lafond, Christian Paolo Lat
When Roy, an elderly Quebecois, suddenly keels over after heavy drinking, his Filipina wife, Ruby and son, are left to figure out what to do to survive.

 Singkwento IFF 2019 Best full-length film, direction, actresses

Sunday, October 20        Doors open at 1 pm

2 - 4 pm:   ALIMUOM [vapor], in Tagalog with English subtitles, Tofarm Film Festival, Kino Arts, Philippines, 2018. TRT: 1:36:14
Directed and written by Keith Sicat;

Stars Ina Feleo, Epy Quizon, Karl Medina, Dido de la PazIn the future, farming is already outlawed on earth due to toxic environment; most of the Philippine populace now lives in mega-Manila biodome, most of them now working off-world as OFW or outer space Filipino workers, tilling the lands in other planets.

4:30 - 6 pm:       TANABATA'S WIFE, in Ilokano, Kankaney, Tagalog and Japanese with English subtitles, Tofarm Film Festival, Meta Pixel, Philippines, 2018. TRT: 1:21:53

Directed by Choy Pangilinan, Charlson Ong and Lito Casaje; Written by Charlson Ong, Choy Pangilinan, Mao Portus, Juan Carlo Tarobal;

Stars Miyuki Kamimura, Mai Fanglayan;

Based on a short story by Sinai Hamada of the same title, a successful Japanese immigrant in Bontoc, now middle aged, desires to find a wife.

FAMAS 2019 Best adapted screenplay; Gawad Urian 2019 Best editing; ToFarm festival 2018 Best film, direction, screenplay, lead actor, lead actress

6:30 - 8 pm: JINO TO MARI [Gino and Marie], in Tagalog and Japanese with English subtitles, Solar Entertainment, Center Stage Productions, Beyond the Box, Philippines, 2019. TRT: 1:31:47

Directed by Joselito O. Altarejos; Written by John Bedia and Joselito  Altarejos;

Stars Oliver Aquino, Angela Cortez;

A seventeen-year old street hustler and a single mother are contracted to perform in a sex film by a Japanese producer; something went wrong with the agreement, the two sex workers will never be the same again.

Sinag Maynila 2019 Best screenplay, musical score, lead actress

8:30 - 11 pm:     ALMA-ATA, in English and in Bisaya and Tagalog with English subtitles, Advance League of People's Artists, Melbourne, Cinema Sosyalista, Philippines/Australia, 2019. TRT: 2:13:40
Directed and written by Arnel Arnel Mutia Mardoquio
Stars Sue Prado, Jamee Rivera
A Filipina physician-immigrant from Australia returns home to search for the remains of her doctor-parents, who worked in the nationalist movement, murdered by a para-military group in Mindanao.

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Media contact: Mauro Tumbocon, Jr., Artistic Director
Text: (415) 410-9566; Email: mtumbocon@gmail.com