Europe’s best flicks now showing
What we also hope with this kind of festival is to promote the kind of cooperation between European and Filipino filmmakers
Without a shadow of a doubt, Filipinos and the Europeans share one thing in common — their love and passion for movies.
Whether to simply watch or to create one, film is one of the things that bind the two nations.
Europe is known for stories that touch viewers’ heart. The region is known for movies like The Pianist, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Skyfall, Under the Skin and The Personal Shopper.
It is also where Cannes Film Festival is held annually in France.
Cine Europa, as supported by the European Union (EU) Delegation to the Philippines, is once again being staged from 20 to 24 September in Greenbelt 3, Makati City. It features some of Europe’s finest and critically acclaimed films.
For this year, 13 films will be presented by the Embassies of Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. “I think what we can offer are the 12 very interesting movies from 12 EU member states plus from our friends from Norway. I think many of the (movies) are very touching and show cultural diversity as it is in Europe,” Thomas Wiersing, charge d’ affaires of the
EU Delegation to the Philippines, said.
“What we also hope with this kind of festival is to promote the kind of cooperation between European and Filipino filmmakers. The Philippines have several people working in the film industry. I think we have a lot in common and we should try to do more together,” he further said.
The film festival is also supported by Film Development Council of the Philippines chaired by Liza Diño.
“We have given full support to Cine Europa and all the initiative of our foreign embassy partners. We take care of the ratings of the film so they don’t have to go to MTRCB (anymore),” Diño said.
With the emergence of digital platforms where viewers can easily and conveniently stream movies and TV series, Diño bared that adapting to changes will keep the cinema industry alive.
“Philippine cinema has to adapt to the changing landscape (in the industry). What we plan to do is to empower our filmmakers and equip them with the tools to understand how they can produce content for different platforms,” she shared.
“We have to be global,” stressed the FDCP chairman.