Beat the heat and feel good this summer with UP Film Institute's distinct screenings. To jumpstart the film series for the month of April is Jeffrey Jeturian's reality TV-inspired Bikini Open (2005) with its pointed commentary on mass media.
Sizzlers from Hong Kong include The Fruit is Swelling and Bug Me Not with the latter doubling as UP Film Institute's own special homage to nature on the occasion of the approaching Earth Day celebration.
In addition is the digital queer film premiere of Joni Fontanos' Hugot, which stars award-winning actress Ana Capri.
Slated for a limited engagement is My Best Friend's Girlfriend, a romantic comedy film produced by GMA Films and Regal Entertainment.
An opportunity to revisit certain Pinoy classics is provided by the Videotheque showcase of Celso Ad Castillo's Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978); Mike de Leon's Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising (1977) and Elwood Perez' Shame (1983).
Watch out for UP Film Institute's next attractions for a unique commemoration of Labor Day plus more films to wrap up the premier state university's summer viewing fare for the rest of May 2008.
SCHEDULE:
April 12 Sat 2/5/7 p.m. Bikini Open
April 14 Mon-16 Wed 5/7 p.m. Bikini Open
April 17 Thu 5/7 p.m. The Fruit is Swelling
April 18 Fri 7 p.m. @ the Videotheque: Kung Mangarap Ka't Magising
April 19 Sat 2 p.m. The Fruit is Swelling
April 21 Mon-22 Tue 5/7 p.m. The Fruit is Swelling
April 23 Wed 5 p.m. The Fruit is Swelling
April 23 Wed 7 p.m. Premiere: Hugot
April 24 Thu 7 p.m. @ the Videotheque: Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak
April 25 Fri 7 p.m. @ the Videotheque: Shame
April 26 Sat 5/7 p.m. My Best Friend's Girlfriend
April 28 Mon 5/7 p.m. My Best Friend's Girlfriend
April 29 Tue-30 Wed 5/7 p.m. Bug Me Not
SYNOPSES:
Bikini Open
A Seiko Films Production
An investigative television journalist pries deep into a bikini pageant's lurid goings-on.
Official Selection-2005 Tokyo IFF
Direction: Jeffrey Jeturian. Screenplay: Chris Martinez. Cast: Cherry Pie Picache, Diana Zubiri, Francine Prieto, Rafael Rosell, Alfred Vargas, Rodel Velayo.
2005 114 minutes 35mm color
Premiere: Hugot
Digital queer film strictly for mature viewing from Phylum Productions
The lives of vulnerable residents across separate sections of the urban heartland are changed forever all in a night: an out-of-school youth with his best friend ending up accidentally killing a gay beauty pageant's newly crowned queen they're out to rob; a poet in anguish over the end of an affair with a beloved of his same sex haunted by a recurring dream; a city gay playing the Good Samaritan to two exhausted youth activists heading home from a rally.
Direction and Screenplay: Jonison Fontanos. Cast: Ana Capri, Jerome Ebreo, Christopher Canizares, Cris Castillo, Alvin Espinosa.
My Bestfriend's Girlfriend
A GMA Films and Regal Entertainment Production
A guy hires the girl he encounters in a stag party to pretend as his new love to make his ex jealous, not knowing that the damsel is actually his best friend's girlfriend.
Direction: Mark A. Reyes. Screenplay: Suzette Doctolero. Cast: Richard Gutierrez, Marian Rivera, JC de Vera, Ehra Madrigal.
2007 115 minutes 35mm color