With the centennial celebration of Philippine cinema, despite the many box office failures of recently shown motion pictures, hope springs eternal still for this artistic and commercial medium.
Proof of this prevailing positivity, the 56 entries submitted to forthcoming ASEAN International Film Festival Awards (AIFFA). It’s the most number of motion picture submissions among 10 ASEAN countries to date.
In the last incarnation of AIFFA in 2017, the Filipino films who made in the competition category had 18 nominations and the Philippine delegation brought home 6 awards in technical and artistic categories.
Some of the major acting winners were Best Supporting Actress for Ana Capri in Laut, Best Supporting Actor for Ricky Davao for Dayung Asu and Best Actress Award for Aiai delas Alas in Area.
With 56 films submitted, it is indeed a no brainer that more awards and recognition are almost in the bag for Filipino world class talent at the AIFFA 2019.
The AIFFA is a biennial competition for filmmakers from the 10 ASEAN countries. This film festival and awards is sanctioned by the ASEAN Secretariat as one of the joint activities for the regional grouping.
First organized in 2013 and is now in its fourth edition, AIFFA is celebrated and held in Kuching, Sarawak in Malaysia. It is judged by international and ASEAN juries and offers awards in 17 categories covering all major aspects of the creative and technical areas of filmmaking. It culminates in a three-day event in Kuching and is attended by filmmakers from all over the world. The fourth edition will be held from April 25 to 27.
Festival director Livan Tajang declares, “You know, besides organizing the best ASEAN Festival more importantly, what we want to highlight is the awareness of the intrinsic value AIFFA carries for ASEAN which basically is the tremendous branding opportunity to promote films.”
“Some of our ASEAN film icons, such as Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen, and Michelle Yeoh, have been bestowed life time achievement awards and they have graced the AIFFA. Because of these icons, and all these films, whether in competition or exhibition, other stars and film makers, showcase the best of ASEAN cinema and all these efforts added more premium and respectability to AIFFA,” he adds.
What we can expect from AIFFA this year? On April 25, Thursday, 400 delegates and international will arrive in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia and will be welcomed with the “Movies Under the Stars” which will be held at the Kuching Waterfront Extension.
Besides the announcement of the nominated films, there will be some performances and premier film opening, to be announced. This event is open to the public: ”The Old Courthouse will be a hive of activities for the three days as film screenings, a sales gallery and exhibition, film talks and where AIFFA BIZ WORLD will be held.
The festival director says in conclusion,“The big event is the evening of 27th April which is the Gala Night. This is always a big attraction as the best of the best ASEAN Films are gathered and awarded. This event is held at the Pullman Hotel.
For more information, you can go to AIFFA’s website: http://www.aiffa2019.com.