Cuchera competes in Stockholm fest

MANILA, Philippines - Joseph Israel Laban’s Cuchera will have its European premiere in the competition slate of the Stockholm International Film Festival in Sweden from today to Nov. 20. It is the first Filipino film to compete in this festival.

Stockholm is a member of the FIAPF and is in the competitive specialized feature film festivals.

Cuchera will compete for the Bronze Award for Best Film, Director (for first feature), Actor, Actress, Screenplay and Cinematography Awards and the FIPRESCI award.

Here is the description of Cuchera in the festival program.

“The abuse never seems to end. This grisly drama suggests that, not only will poverty make people do terrible things for both survival and profit, but also that the constant using of others can dull one’s sense of empathy. Living in the slums of Manila, Isabel and the other strugglers do what they can to get by. For most of them — male and female alike — that means prostitution. Vibrant colors and confident cinematography does not ease the graphic images of dirtiness found in the drug business. More unexpected are the dizzy close-ups, with which director Joseph Israel Laban accentuates the terror that follows in poverty’s footsteps. Accompanied by ghastly tunes, some scenes could be part of a horror movie. The sex, the violence and the insertion of drugs into the character’s cavities never get too visually explicit. Laban effectively uses the sounds of disturbing screams and groans to complete the picture of misery. An exposé of people trying to survive Manila’s less gentle parts rather than a character study, this could be an eye-opener for many spectators.”

There are 22 films in the official competition section and it include high-profile titles like Ralph Fiennes’ Corionalus, Miranda July’s The Future, Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now, Steve McQueen’s Shame and Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights.

Cuchera is the first feature of Laban who also wrote the script. It was a finalist in the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival last July. It also competed in the Discovery Award of the Toronto International Film Festival last September.

French actress Isabelle Huppert will receive the lifetime achievement award and Mexican director Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Amores Perros, 21 Grams and Babel) the visionary award.

Cuchera stars Maria Isabel Lopez, Sue Prado, Simon Ibarra, Jonathan Neri, Isadora and Paolo Rivero. It will open in select cinemas this December and has also been invited to other festivals next year.