PANA Institute for Leadership Development

First Annual GTU Filipino Film Festival offers showings every evening, Sep. 8-13, on the campus of Pacific School of Religion.

"Pasilip" (which means "to peep, to take a quick look") is the apt name for this festival, for it gives participants a glimpse into the lives and stories of the Pilipino through film. Each evening will have a Q & A/Discussion session after the screening.

NO COVER, FREE SNACKS!

For details, contact:
Jeffrey Acido, 808.295.6787
jeffrey.acido@gmail.com

Venue:
Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave, Berkeley, CA 94709
Mudd Building Room 100 or
PSR Room 6 (under the chapel)

Download a flyer or postcard, or see below for synopses of the films.

Schedule

Monday, September 8, 8:00pm, in PSR Mudd 100
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros
queer - gender

Tuesday, September 9, 7:00pm, in PSR Room 6
Anak
immigration - diaspora

Wednesday, September 10, 7:00pm, in PSR Mudd 100
Perfumed Nightmare
postcolonial - migration - development

Thursday, September 11, 7:00pm, in PSR Mudd 100
Imelda
socio-political - gender

Friday, September 12, 7:00pm, in PSR Room 6
Dekada '70
politcal - feminist - gender

Saturday, September 13, 6:00pm, in PSR Mudd 100
Himala
popular religiosity - culture - socio-political - faith healing

Film Synopses

Sept. 8, Monday, 8pm at Mudd 100

*The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros*

*The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros* tells the story of Maxi (Nathan Lopez), a gay pre-teen growing up in the slums of Manila, who is deeply loyal to his family of petty thieves. His world revolves around his father and two brothers who love and protect him in return for Maxi's devotion to completing domestic chores and covering their tracks when they commit crimes. When Maxi meets Victor (JR Valentin), a well-meaning handsome policeman, the two become fast friends and Maxi begins to learn that he can have a better life which soon incurs the ire and disapproval of Maxi's family.

Sept. 9, Tuesday, 7pm at PSR 6

*Anak*

Josie works as a domestic helper in Hong Kong in order to provide a better life for her family in the Philippines. When she is finally ready to come home she realizes that the family she left is not the family she has come home to.

Sept. 10, Wednesday, 7pm at Mudd100

*Perfumed Nightmare*

This film is a semi-autobiographical fable by a young Filipino about his awakening to, and reaction against, American Cultural Colonialism. Born in 1942 during the Occupation, Kidlat spent "the next 33 typhoon seasons in a cocoon of American dreams." This, then, is his perfumed nightmare: the lotusland of American technological promise. In his village, he worships the heroism of the Machine, the sleek beauty of rockets, the efficiency of industrialism. He's the president of his village's Werner Von Braun fan club. He longs to visit Cape Canaveral, to experiences those shimmering images he knows from movies, from soldiers, from the Voice of America. Winner of the International Critics Award at the Berlin Film Festival and a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival.

Sept. 11, Thursday, 7pm at Mudd100

*Imelda: Power. Myth. Illusion*

Few contemporary political figures of this century have been as controversial and outspoken - and even misunderstood - as Imelda Marcos, the former Philippine First Lady and widow of the late Ferdinand Marcos, who was the president of the Philippines for 21 years. *Imelda* marks the first time that Mrs. Marcos agreed to tell her story. This feature documentary details her rise from humble provincial origins with a combination of guile, ambition and beauty to become one of the richest and most powerful women in a contemporary history and one of the few known by her first name.

Sept. 12, Friday, 7pm at PSR 6

*Dekada '70*

A story of a family caught in the middle of a tumultuous decade. *Dekada '70* details how a middle class family struggled with and faced the new changes that empowered Filipinos to rise against the government. Following the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, proclamation of Martial Law, bombing of Plaza Miranda, random arrests and political prisoners shaped the decade. While the government gets more oppressive, people get more radical. All these witnessed by Amanda Bartolome (Vilma Santos), a mother of five boys. And while her sons grow, form their beliefs and lead different lives, Amanda awakens her identity to state her stand as a citizen, a mother, and a woman.

Sept. 13, Saturday, 6pm at Mudd 100

*Himala*

In the forgotten town of Cupang in the Philippines, a young woman named Elsa (Nora Aunor) announces that she has seen the Virgin Mary - and then demonstrates a new-found ability to heal the sick. Soon the whole village has become the center of international attention as people come from all over for statues of the saints and bottles of the village's holy water. Among the hordes of visitors is a skeptical film director intent on visually recording Elsa's healing powers - and without his knowing it, some frames capture a secret Elsa has kept from the world for a long time, a secret which led to her sister's suicide. - Eleanor Mannika, All Movie Guide