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Vice Ganda is a cultural phenomenon in the Philippines. A TV host fronting daily variety show It’s Showtime, which has been pulling in top ratings for 15 years. A film star whose comedies have been topping the Christmas box office annually since 2010. A performer whose concerts pack out venues in the Philippines and North America. And an openly gay star in a Roman Catholic majority country that has not legalized same-sex marriage or heterosexual divorce.

And yet, with great fame comes great responsibility, not to mention high expectations, and like many artists during the pandemic, Vice decided to take a break and figure out what to do next. That pause led to a pairing with writer-director Jun Robles Lana to make And The Breadwinner Is…, a family drama produced by Star Cinema and Lana’s The IdeaFirst Company, which is also a comedy, but one with a lot more depth and...

Director Jun Robles Lana is a committed advocate of all queer aspects of life, which he has portrayed in his body of work with contrasting tones of voice, from the theatrical colorfulness of “Die Beautiful” to the dark realism of “Kalel, 15”. “Becky & Badette” sits without a doubt in the former group and, despite not being strictly (no pun intended) a gay story, is as camp as Christmas. A mix of classic comedy of errors and the familiar “high school reunion” genre, peppered with many innuendos and Filipino in-jokes, “Becky & Badette” is pure fun from start to end, and also one of those films you can imagine the cast and crew having a great time while shooting it.

Becky & Badette is screening at UdineFar East Film Festival 2024

Becky (Eugene Domingo) and Badette (Pokwang) are two women in their forties, working as janitors in an all-colourful-girl office and living...

Filipino filmmaker Jun Robles Lana is making his second appearance at Toronto International Film Festival with Your Mother’s Son, which is receiving its world premiere in the Centrepiece section.

Co-scripted by Lana and Elmer Gatchalian, the film tells the story of a hard-working mother and her delinquent son whose relationship is challenged when she invites one of her students to move into their home, so he can escape his violent father. Initially, it seems the son is suffering from a severe case of Oedipus complex, but as the film progresses, a more shocking tale of abuse of power and sexual dynamics begins to unfold.

Sue Prado (Barber’s Tales) plays the mother, with Kokoy de Santos (Gameboys) playing the son, and Elora Españo and Miggy Jimenez rounding out the cast. Lana, Perci Intalan and Ferdinand Lapuz produced the film through The IdeaFirst Company, Octobertrain Films, Quantum Films and Cineko Productions.

Festival adds seven world, five international and one European premiere.

Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 15-Dec 1) has completed the line-up for its official selection, the festival’s main competition strand.

These include seven world premieres, five international and one European premiere, adding to the previously announced eight films.

Titles include Muscle, a psychological thriller from UK director Gerard Johnson, known for previous features Hyena and Tony. His latest film follows a man who attempts to get his life back on track by getting physically into shape but encounters unexpected consequences after meeting an intimidating gym teacher. West End Films...

Isabel Sandoval is a New York-based Filipina filmmaker. Her feature directorial debut, “Señorita,” premiered in competition at the 2011 Locarno Film Festival, and won the Emerging Director Award at the 2012 Asian-American International Film Festival in New York. Her award-winning second film, “Apparition,” screened at the 2012 Busan International Film Festival and later played at the Museum of Modern Art. With her third feature, “Lingua Franca,” Sandoval is the first transwoman of color to direct and headline a film competing at Venice.

On the occasion of “Lingua Franca” screening at the Slovak Queer Film Festival, we speak with her about the situation with green cards in the Us, identity and the concept of transexuality, her cinematic approach towards the concept, and many other topics.

Can you explain the title in connection with the film’s context?

The surface interpretation of Lingua Franca, or bridge language, in the context of the film would be...

After the huge success of “Die Beautiful”, there was bound to be a sequel, and “Born Beautiful” serves that purpose, despite the fact that it is more of a spin off, as it focuses on the character of Barbs Cordero, who was one of the best friends of Trisha in the first film.

“Born Beautiful” is screening at the Slovak Queer Film Festival

Barbs works in a funeral parlor, where she makes the faces of the deceased look like famous stars. After a rather surrealistic scene where she meets with the deceased Trisha, troubles with her boyfriend, Greg, who happens to be married, and her best friend dying after being struck by lightning, Barbs decides to leave her trans life behind and become a straight man. To do so, he joins the Way of Light, an organization who is specialized in returning trans women to manhood, through religion. During her effort,...

Chicago – Season Nine of Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema (Apuc) is partnering with Fylpro (Filipino Young Leaders Program) for a benefit on Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 (7pm) at the Alliance Française in Chicago, and screening the film “Signal Rock.” Filipino lead actor Christian Bables will appear on behalf of the film. For more info and tickets, click here.

Christian Bables as Intoy in ‘Signal Rock’ (Philippines)

Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

The story, written and directed by Chito Roño, follows Intoy (Christian Bables) living with his family in Biri, Northern Samar, while his sister Vicky that now lives in Finland to work. To be able to contact his sister, he scrambles to the strange rock formations in the island to communicate, as only those formations can get mobile phone signals. He also has to contend between his love for a woman – who is predestined to leave for Manila – and his inherent duty.

This the third year that the Slovak Queer Film Festival introduces a sidebar section focusing on Far East cinemas Queer Asia. In its 13th edition, the festival brings a retrospective dedicated to the Philippines.

It is the diversity of the stories that caught the attention of the festival. Moreover, the Philippine Lgbtq+ films stretch across the spectrum from arthouse to mainstream. This also applies to the 3rd Queer Asia section. Consisting of five features, it presents a sample from the last decennial.

Among them, “Boy” (2009) by Auraeus Solito is the oldest. A macho dancer film in its best, it plays out a story of a search for joy and fulfillment in a relationship with a hired erotic dancer. Subtle in its execution, strong in its character, “Boy” unashamedly exposes the male body to the gaze. “Those Long Haired Nights” (2017) by Gerardo Calagui heads out from the night clubs and interiors of homes.

Chris Kraus’s film exploring inter-generational legacy of the Holocaust scores twice at Tiff.

German director Chris Kraus’s The Bloom of Yesterday has won the $50,000 Grand Prix at the Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff), running Oct 25 to Nov 3.

Set against the backdrop of a conference devoted to the German death camp Auschwitz, the film stars German actor Lars Eidinger as a Holocaust researcher who is forced to confront his connection to the past by an intern played by French actress Adèle Haenel.

The film also won the Wowow Viewer’s Choice Award.

Croatian film-maker Hana Jusic won Best Director for her debut feature Quit Staring At My Plate, about a woman living cheek by jowl with her family in a tiny apartment.

The Special Jury Prize went to Amanda Kernell’s Sami Blood inspired by the Swedish 1930s practice of forcibly removing indigenous Sami children from their families.

The film follows the fate of Elle Marja...