As the 2016 Cine Filipino Film Festival opens today, here’s a guide to everything you should know about the each of the Feature-Length Movies you can watch in select cinemas until March 22, 2016
Ang Tulay ng San Sebastian by Alvin Yapan
The dead come alive as an ambulance driver and a nurse try to keep awake recounting road ghost stories on a Good Friday, the day of Christ’s death.
Bong and Francis, driver and nurse, are now driving back in an ambulance to their home province from Manila where they dropped off a patient. It is nearing midnight of a Good Friday. As traffic thins out along the highway, Bong finds it hard to keep himself awake. To help Bong stay alert, the two men agree to tell each other road ghost stories. Eventually, Bong recalls that it’s bad luck to tell ghost stories on a Friday. They might just come true, especially on a Good Friday when Christ is dead.
When they keep passing the same bridge of San Sebastian, Bong and Francis begin to witness their stories become real, one after another. They encounter a white lady hailing them by the roadside, a floating coffin pursuing their ambulance, and a ghostly reenactment of a massacre of passengers of a commercial bus line by armed robbers.
Bong and Francis realize that whatever is happening to them is connected to the San Sebastian Bridge. They muster their courage to explore the bridge’s underbelly where they would get separated. Bong would encounter a hut owned by a mysterious young woman who knows the history of violence attached to the bridge. Francis would encounter a band of ghost rebel soldiers. After narrowly escaping death among tiyanaks, zombies, and an incarnate of the devil, Francis and Bong get reunited by the same ambulance they left parked near the bridge of San Sebastian.
Fearing that there seems to be no way out of the cycle of ghost stories, Francis and Bong decide to kill themselves by ramming the ambulance off the bridge of San Sebastian. Will they come out of this desperate act alive?
CAST
Joem Bascon as Bong
Sandino Martin as Francis
Alex Castro as Coward Rebel
Angela Cortez as Tess Ivy Sumilangas White Lady
Arrian Labiosas Rebel Leader
Lance Raymundo as Hostage Father
Sue Prado as Hostage Mother
1ST Sem by Dexter Hemedez and Allan Ibanez
Maru Marasigan (Darwin Jefferson Yu) a sixteen-year old incoming freshman from the province, leaves his hometown to study in one of the prestigious universities in Manila. He is accompanied by his mother Precy (Lotlot De Leon) as he goes to his dormitory. But Precy cannot help but get emotional when she is about to leave him. Maru feels sad seeing his mother cry. This escalates after Maru spent his first night at the dorm feeling alone and very lonely.
Maru then decides to pack his things and go back home. Precy is very shocked to see him in their kitchen early in the morning the following day. Down on his knees, Maru pleads to Precy to allow him to study in a nearby college for he cannot afford to live miles away from his family. But Precy rejects Maru’s request and tells him to go back to Manila instead.
As Maru insists his decision and disobeys Precy, his relationship with his mother starts to fall apart.
cast
Lotlot de Leon as Precy Marasigan
Darwin Yu as Maru Marasigan
Allan Paule as Casio
Miguel Bagtas as Jairus
Sebastian Vargas, Jr. as Tim
Karen Romualdez as Grace
Teri Lacayanga as Edith
Maddie Martinez as Susan
Sachie Yu as Michelle
Simon Ibarra as Ricardo
Marc Paloma as Thomas
Tricia Monique Olive as Elyze
JunyaSantarin as Emmy
Inna Tuason as Rona
RjudeSolero as Tintin
Mikko Baldoza as Daniel
A Lotto Like Love by Carla Baful
On the far side of being ambitious is Kayela, a go-getter woman whose goal in life is to be rich. She’s the kind of dreamer who has started acting rich even before being one. On the other end of the spectrum is Itot, a handsome and hard-working cab driver who just wants to provide for his disabled mother and teenage brother’s everyday needs. Their worlds had nothing to do with each other until they both cue up in the same lottery line to buy lotto tickets.
Being the people person that she is, Kayela manages to involve Itot in choosing the numbers she’d bet on. She even gets to borrow money from him upon realizing that she does not have enough money to buy a lotto ticket. Itot wants nothing in return but to get rid of this woman who’s slowing down the lotto line.
Everything changes when Itot falls in dire financial need and Kayela wins the lottery. Itot hunts Kayela and demands that she shares her prize with him, to which Kayela eventually agrees. Just when the two are about to claim the prize, 2 hold-uppers attempt to take Kayela’s bag where the winning ticket is kept. Instead of giving the bag to the thieves, Kayela throws it inside a moving bus. The hold-uppers did not pursue her bag anymore. However, it is now Kayela and Itot’s turn to chase it back.
This propels the series of their adventures and mishaps, ultimately leading them to discover their priceless worth to each other.
CAST
Martin Escudero as Itot
Isabelle de Leon as Kayela
Dennis Padilla as Kayela’s Dad
Ruby Ruiz as Itot’s Mom
Mauro Lumba as AD
Emmanuelle Vera as Anna MaeJacob Clayton as Mani
Naomi Reyes as Bubwit
Bernard Carritero as Bubwit’s Dad
Aireen Almonte as Bubwit’s Mom
Richmond Padayo as Bubwit’s Brother
Ang Taba Ko Kasi by Jason Paul Laxamana
A fat girl is torn between her hot swimming instructor, who motivates her to lose weight, and an equally fat friend, who wants her to accept her appearance.
Kahit mahilig silang magluto at kumain, payatot ang lahat ng miyembro ng Pamilya Gigante, maliban kay Olga. Kahit ano’ng diet ang kanyang gawin, hindi siya pumapayat. Upang magkaroon ng puspusang ehersisyo, maiisipan ni Olga na kumuha ng swimming lessons tuwing gabi. Madaragdagan ang kaniyang motivation pagkakita kung sino ang kaniyang magiging swimming instructor – isang makalaglag-panty na binatilyong nagngangalang Noah! Maiisip ni Olga, kung papayat siya, maaaring maging silani Noah, lalo pa’t panay ang pagpapahiwatig ng manlalangoy ng kanyang pagtingin sa kanyang matabang estudyante.
Upang lalong bumilis ang pagpapapayat, gagawin na ring regular ni Olga ang pagdiya-jogging tuwing hapon. Sa halos araw-araw niyang pagtakbo sa unibersidad, makikilala ni Olga si Benji, isang lalaking nagmamadaling bumalik sa dating matipunong anyo bago umuwi sa Pilipinas ang kanyang seksing ex-girlfriend.
Sa una, hindi kumportable si Olga sa pakikisalamuha sa isangkapwa-tabachoy. Kalaunan, magiging magkaibigan din sila ni Benji at magtuturingang weight loss buddies. Subalit darating ang panahong mapapagod si Benji sa pagpapapayat. Yayayain niya si Olga na tigilan naang obsession sa panlabas naanyo at i-enjoy na lamang ang buhay sa pamamagitan ng pagkain nang sandamakmak at pag-aasal-batugan.
Kaninong piling mananatilisi Olga? Sa lalaking tumutulak sa kanyang maging balingkinitan o sa lalaking tanggap siya – sa katunayan, mahal siya – kahit na isa siyang tabachoy?
CAST
Cai Cortez as Olga
Mark Neumann as Noah
Ryan Yllana as Benjie
Jay Gonzaga as Gordon
Bea Vega as Dream Girl
Patanias Friend MitzOng as Bea
Naomi Reyes as Bubwit
Divine Aucina as Wendy
Edith Chu as Nanay
BajunLacap as Tatay
Tintin Mendoza as Leni
Buhay Habangbuhay by Paolo Alessandro Herras
One ordinary day, in an ordinary kitchen, while making an ordinary meal, devoted housewife Sandy accidentally slips and kills herself.
Used to following after her husband, Joel, Sandy’s ghost dutifully waits for him to die so they can move on together in the afterlife.
While waiting, Sandy adjusts to her new ghostly life, as she playfully haunts her husband, befriends an older Anito spirit also living in her home, and discovers her ghostly abilities. She is no ordinary ghost.
Sandy can turn dark or light depending on her disposition. Sandy also learns to live with Joel’s new family: second wife Cecile, and their son, little Christopher.
But when Joel finally dies, he disappears and cannot be found.
CAST
Iza Calzado as Sandy
Jake Macapagalas Joel
Meryll Soriano as Cecile
Ricci Chan as Anito Spirit Rocky Salumbidesas Raymond
Anna Marin as Celia
Nhikzy Calma as Christopher
Ned’s Project by Lemuel Lorca
Henedina “NED” De Asis is a tattoo artist whose days are either filled with playing basketball, getting her client’s tattoo’s done or visiting MAX, her much older lesbian friend who is bedridden. She has everything in control until her world starts to crumble -her longtime girlfriend, GLADYS, dumped her and Max suddenly dies.
Not wanting to be alone like her friend when she grows old, Ned finally pursues the dream that she has long wanted for herself—to have a baby. Unfortunately it’s not going to be easy. What follows is a series of comic and desperate attempts for her to achieve her purpose.
All hope seems lost, until, she stumbles upon a solution. A TV station is holding a contest – a lesbian variety/TALENT show. Eyeing the grand prize of 300,000 pesos – which is enough to fund her artificial insemination procedure – she decides to join, but with one hitch -she does not have any talent. She will make this her project.
CAST
Angeli Bayani as Ned
Max Eigenmann as Ashley
Dionne Monsanto as Gladys
Star Orjaliza as Nancy
Anna Abad-Santos as Olga
Lui Manansala as Max Kints Kintana as Sprikky
Biboy Ramirez as Marlon
TJ Dela Paz as Ronald
Tomas Miranda as Erwin
JuvanBermil as Brenda
Joshua Bulot as Fred
Sakaling Hindi Makarating by Ice Idanan
Cielo is devastated when her boyfriend of 11 years, Mark, breaks off their engagement two months before their wedding. In anticipation of building a new life with Mark, she quit her job and now isolates herself in what could have been their new home, an old apartment in Quezon City.
When a series of anonymous, hand-illustrated postcards from all over the Philippines are delivered to Cielo, she bonds with her gregarious neighbor Paul over their vivid descriptions of travel and adventure. Just as she begins to feel revived, Mark contacts her, asking to meet. In response, Cielo is compelled to travel the Philippines, using the money that she saved up for the wedding, with the postcards as her guide. She agrees to write to Paul from every new destination, whose burgeoning romantic feelings for Cielo are left unreciprocated.
cast
Alessandra de Rossi as Cielo
Pepe Herrera as Paul
JC Santos as Manuel
Hiraya Plata as Aisha Terry Malvar as Sol
Lesley Lina as Mila
Jay Gonzaga as Mark
Karen Delos Reyes as Gina
Straight To The Heart by Dave Fabros
Eric, a handsome gay hairdresser, lives a generally happy life with his gay salon colleagues, and his lesbian best friend, Jeans. He just got out of an abusive relationship with a straight guy, and he is mystified why straight guys seem to get the best out of life.
One night, during a fight with his ex-lover, Eric is injured and gets into a coma. Just as his friends are about to give up on him, he wakes up – a straight man. He changes radically into an arrogant sex-obsessed macho dude, who offends his close friends, loses his job at the salon because of moral indiscretions, beats up an ex-boyfriend in public, and disrespects his lesbian best friend.
What follows is a harrowing emotional roller-coaster for Eric as his friends struggle to deal with the straight Eric. When the lines are blurred, principles are compromised, and relationship is put to the test, only true friendship saves love’s true meaning. Change, it will seem, is Always for the Better.
CAST
Carl Guevara as Eric
Gwen Zamora as Jeans
Vincent De Jesus as Lenard
Ricci Chan as Rich
Nico Antonio as Joey
Kiko Matos as Cheska
Dina Padilla as Dina
Cris Lomotan as Franco
Gilleth Sandico as Sophie Bibo Reyes as Kevin
Zandra Summer as Shiela
Evelyn Vargas as Manay Luling
Allan Forte as Mang Berto
Jace Flores as Gary
Ronnie Martinez as Eric’s Tatang
Star Na Si Van Damme Stallone by Randolph Longjas
Based on a real-life characters and events, this tale is about Nadia, a single mom in Bocaue, Bulacan, who goes through the trials and tribulations of raising Vanvan – a child with Down Syndrome. As a mother, one is expected to give one hundred percent, but when one is raising a special child, you still have to give so much more. That’s why when Vanvan wished one day to become and artista, Nadia knows she has to make ends – and dreams – meet.
Spanning more than two decades of personal accounts, this story offers vignettes of Vanvan’s life through the eyes of the people closest to him: his mother Nadia when he was a newborn and the story of how he got his unique name; his brother Tano during his childhood, when he got his first lead role and gave it up for the sake of the ‘greater good’; his uncle Jim when he reached his teenage years and began making his acting career happen; and his own perspective as an adult when he finally, in a manner of speaking, became a full-pledged TV personality.
CAST
Candy Pangilinan as Nadia
Erlinda Villalobos as Ditas
Sarah Pagcaliwagan as Cecile
Paolo Pinggol as Van Damme
Jad Dilanco as Young Van Damme Neil Seseas Jim
Mara Marasigan as Jessica
Cris Lomotan as Young Jessica
Acey Aguilar as Tano
Isaac Aguirre as Young Tano
CineFilipino Film Festival opens on March 15, 2016 at the New Port Cinema 4 (Resorts World Manila). The festival will run from March 16 until March 22, 2016 at Gateway Cineplex, EDSA Shangri-la Cineplex, Greenhills Theater Mall Cinema, New Port Cinemas, Robinsons Galleria Movieworld, Robinsons Manila Movieworld, Robinsons Metro East Movieworld and Festival Cinemas.
