The award-winning film Pinoy Sunday has been chosen to open the 12th Cinemanila International Film Festival. This year's film fest will take place at Robinsons Galleria from December 1-5, 2010.
Starring Epy Quizon, Bayani Agbayani, Meryll Soriano, and Alessandra de Rossi, Pinoy Sunday was done in Tagalog with Mandarin sub-titles. Taiwan's Government Information Office and NHK Japan helped produce the film.
Cannes winner Wi Ding Ho is expected to come to Manila on December 1, 2010 for the Philippine premiere of Pinoy Sunday. The film will also have regular screenings during this year's Cinemanila, which runs from December 1-5, 2010.
In Pinoy Sunday, viewers will get the chance to follow the misadventures of Manuel (Epy Quizon) and Dado (Bayani Agbayani), two overseas Filipino workers employed in a bicycle factory in Taiwan.
When Manuel and Dado see a red sofa abandoned on a sidewalk, they decide to carry the heavy couch--transforming their normal Sunday into a tale of adventure, perseverance and self-discovery.
In the comedy film, viewers will see how the sofa was used as a stretcher to carry an accident victim and was also strapped to a grocery cart to save a young boy who wants to jump from a building.
Directed by Wi Ding Ho, Pinoy Sunday earned for him the Best New Director Award at the 47th Golden Horse Film Festival awarding ceremony held last November 20, 2010 in Taipei.
The Golden Horse Film Festival is the most prestigious and longest-running film festival of Chinese language films in the world. The film is considered Asia's equivalent of the Oscar Awards. Film luminaries like John Woo, Ang Lee, Maggie Cheung, Wong Kar Wai, and others have graced the film festival in the past.
(CLICK HERE to watch a Taiwanese news report about Pinoy Sunday)
When asked during Toronto International Film Festival why he was a Malaysian filmmaker living in Taiwan making stories about Filipinos living in Taipei, his answer was, "I was touched by the optimism and hope I saw in the Filipino OFWs in Taipei. I was curious when I saw all the Pinoys near the St. Christopher's Church. They looked so happy."
Director Wi Ding Ho already came to the Philippines in 2005 to grace the 7th Cinemanila in order to present his short film titled Hu Xi (Respire). This film garnered the Kodak Short Film and Young Critics Awards at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival.
For more information, contact cinemanila@gmail.com or visit www.cinemanila.org.ph