MANILA – This December, the Goethe-Institut Philippinen is giving film buffs across the country a special treat.
From Dec. 2 to Dec. 20, twelve short films from the Berlinale, the Berlin International Film Festival, will be shown in four cities around the Philippines for free. Dubbed “Berlinale Spotlight”, the films are especially curated for screenings in Southeast Asia and will be shown in two programs.
Included in the film roster are Berlinale laureates HOSANNA (Golden Bear for Best Short Film 2015, Korea), Bad at Dancing (Silver Bear Jury Prize (Short Film) 2015, USA) and the Berlin Short Film Nominee for the European Film Awards 2015 Dissonance (Germany), among others.
Berlinale is Germany’s most prestigious film festival and also one of the most important dates on the international film industry’s calendar. In 2015 at its 65th edition, 443 films were shown in different sections. The films shown in the sections Competition and Berlinale Shorts competed for the prestigious Golden and Silver Bears.
Among the festival sections is the Berlinale Shorts which comprises of short films from around the globe. These “shorts” can either be fiction, documentary, experimental or animation. The section aims to showcase new directions in filmmaking that often make first appearances in short films. The shorts in the two programs to be shown in the Philippines focus largely on existentialist reflections, possibilities of artistic expressions and human relationships.
Berlinale Spotlight will be shown from Dec. 2 to 3 at the Auditorium of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in Intramuros, Manila; from Dec. 5 to 6 at the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Cinematheque in Baguio City; from Dec. 12 to 13 at the FDCP Cinematheque in Davao City; and from Dec. 19 to 20 at the FDCP Cinematheque in Iloilo City.
Admission to the screenings is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Goethe-Institut Philippinen’s website at www.goethe.de/manila or write an e-mail to program@manila.goethe.org. (Eagle News Service/Goethe-Institut Manila)