Silent Film Festival Manila returns in-person for 16th year

MANILA, Philippines — The annual International Silent Film Festival Manila (ISFFM) will be returning to in-person screenings for its 16th edition after conducting activities for two years online.

Several diplomatic entities will join forces with the Film Development Council of the Philippines for the 16th ISFFM to be held from November 24 to 27, 2022, at the Red Carpet in Shangri-La Mall.

Screenings during the festival will all consist of silent films, with live scores to be performed by selected Filipino bands and musicians.

Kicking off the festival will be the British 1929 film "Piccadilly," as presented by the British Council in the Philippines with live scoring by Anahata in collaboration with Sensoria.

The second day will have a public webinar spotlighting the films to be screened as the participating organizations share their processes of restoration, curation, and the continuing impact of the films in each country's cinematic history.

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Screening on the second day are the iconic German 1922 vampire film "Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror" scored by The Brockas and the 1919 French classic "La sultane de l' amour (The Sultan of Love – A Thousand and One Nuits)" scored by by Bras Pas Pas Pas.

Day three will see a round table discussion led by musicians sharing their expertise, tips, and experiences in scoring, followed by screenings of Spain’s 1926 film "Malvaloca" scored by Talahib People’s Music and Japanese 1931 film "The Lady and the Beard" scored by Bullet Dumas.

The fourth and final day of the festival will have a roundtable discussion this time on the challenges in restoring Philippine films led by local film archivists, then the screening of screening of three of the best short silent films from the 2021 Mit Out Sound (MOS).

These short films are "Ing Tianak," "Alingasngas ng mga Kuliglig" and "Dikit," all three to be scored by the BConcept and Vincent Del Rosario.

"Alingasngas ng mga Kuliglig" was the 2021 MOS Best Film, while "Dikit" won the Special Jury Prize and its filmmaker Gabriela Serrano was honored as Best Director at the 2022 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

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