By Danielle Gabriel
TRUE to its theme “Coming of Age,” the annual Cine Europa film festival, which is now on its 18th year, transitions into maturity by welcoming more participating countries and a wider audience reach.
The festival, which will feature coming-of-age films and timeless love tales from different European countries, is set to travel to eight key cities across the country, including Manila, Baguio, Zamboanga, Iloilo, Cebu, Leyte, Davao and Cagayan de Oro. An addition this year is the participation of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which will serve as the last venue for the festival.
European Union (EU) outgoing political counselor Lubomir Frebort said this is an exciting time for the annual film festival.
“Cine Europa is celebrating her debut, 18 years, an important number in a girl’s life. I believe that the significant celebration not limited to Europe but also to the Philippines means mainly maturity and new steps to a more exciting life. Likewise in Cine Europa,” Frebort said.
According to Frebort throughout the festival’s 18-year run, the Philippine audience has shown a growing interest and maturity as they expose themselves to the European culture through films.
Frebort added that the festival will continue providing an “educational component” with a series of lectures, courtesy of Filipino experts in the movie industry, to share their insights. Filipino movies that portray the similarities between Philippine and European cultures will, likewise, be shown during the festival. A staunch supporter of the culture and arts since the start of Cine Europa, the Shangri-La Plaza Shang Cineplex will host the foreign-film showing during the first leg of the festival, from September 10 to 20.
According to Shangri-La Plaza Marketing Manager Marline Dualan, the films are a means toward bridging cultures and expanding the public’s knowledge about the world.
“Film is a very potent medium for us to be able to broaden our horizon and for us to be able to travel without leaving. You look at film as a medium for educating people. For making us also realize the differences with other people, as well as our similarities,” Dualan said.
Touching on the European flair that interests Filipino viewers, Dualan noted the key component in film has to be the human emotion, which is universal.
“When we talk of human emotion, it just proves that we are all the same. We might react differently but, at the end of the day, we experience love, pain, wanting to be a part of a family, and wanting to be a good person,” she said.
Banking on the Philippines’s religiosity as a country, the Embassy of the Czech Republic will showcase their entry, Little Baby Jesus, a film about the miracles of the country’s famous Sto. Niño de Prague. The Czech-Mexican flick will be shown in Cebu and its director, Lenka Kny, will be in the country in October to hold a series of lectures. Included in the festival’s itinerary is Leyte, which was devastated by Supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013. Frebort said the film festival will provide an avenue for entertainment and inspiration for the people in the area.
“This is another contribution of the European Union and its member-states to the people who suffered so much in the typhoon some time ago. This is another way to encourage them not to look back but to look forward to better things to come. I’m sure the films they will be seeing will add some color and optimism to their life,” Frebort said.
Cine Europa 18 is organized by the EU Cultural Group in Manila and EU Cultural Institutes accredited with the Philippines, including the embassies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, Alliance Française, British Council, Goethe-Institut, Philippine-Italian Association and the Instituto Cervantes de Manila, with partnerships with the Film Development Council of the Philippines, MMDA and the Shangri-La Plaza.