‘Iloilo’ special premiere in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines -  The Cannes Film Festival-winner “Iloilo” will have a special screening in Cebu this Saturday, Nov. 30 at Ayala Center Cinema 3 at 10 a.m. The screening will be for the benefit of The Freeman Foundation.

“Iloilo” is a film from Singapore that is written and directed by 29-year-old Anthony Chen. It stars Filipino actress Angeli Bayani and Singaporeans Yeo Yann Yann, Chen Tian Wen and Koh Jia Ler.

It is the first full-length feature of Chen who was born and grew up in Singapore. The story is inspired by his recollections of his Filipina nanny Teresita Sajonia who took care of him and his brothers Justin and Christopher from 1988 to 1997. The title refers to the home province of Teresita. The Chen brothers and Teresita (fondly known as Auntie Terry) had not seen each other since 1997 until Cebu-based PR consultant Charles Lim helped find her and reunited the former nanny and her wards for the first time in July this year with the assistance of Cebu Pacific.

The film was unveiled last May at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival where it won the Camera d’Or for Best Debut Feature. In the citation read before the awarding, Camera d’Or jury president Agnes Varda declared, “We were touched by four characters, and the story of a family in Singapore. The director’s intelligence and sensitivity bring forth very important issues —childhood, immigration, class struggles, the economic crisis. We were unanimous in our first round, and have chosen to award the Camera d’Or to Anthony Chen for ‘Iloilo.’”

“Iloilo” has so far traveled to more than 20 international filmfests. It has received numerous awards and recognitions, including Singapore’s Best Foreign Language Film entry to the Oscars, Best First Film at the British Film Institute London Film Festival, Best Feature Film at the Molodist International Film Festival, Best Narrative Feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival and Best Film at the Pacific Meridian Film Festival. The film also reaped four more awards last weekend during the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan which includes Best Supporting Actress for Yeo Yann Yann, Best New Director and Best in Original Screenplay for Anthony Chen and the Best Feature Film.

Bayani is set to grace the special screening in Cebu.

For more information, contact Precious Heradura at 09228596363 or email selrahcopr@gmail.com.  

Sam Concepcion mall show at SM Consolacion

Singer-actor Sam Concepcion is set to meet his fans in an exclusive mall show in SM City Consolacion today.

Sam emerged as the winner for the Big Division of Little Big Star’s Season 1 in April 2006. He currently has a contract under STAGES and ABS-CBN’s Star Magic. He had a total of 12 theater roles and had various plays even at a young age, including the role of Edmund Pevensie in the local stage adaptation of “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” and Mr. Noah’s “Big Boat.” He has been in the role of Peter Pan from 2002 until 2012. Aside from theater roles, he has acted in movies including “Way Back Home” and “Shake, Rattle & Roll 13.”

In 2007, Sam launched his self-titled album under Universal Records, which was certified Gold by the Philippine Association of the Record Industry. He also launched two other albums “Pop Class” (2010), and “Forever Young” (2011). The latter was his biggest hit, hitting the charts at number 1 for seven weeks in a row. In 2008, Sam was chosen by Dreamworks to sing the theme song of the animated movie “Kung Fu Panda” titled, “Kung Fu Fighting” which was included in the Asian soundtrack album.

Sam recently launched his album “Infinite” under Universal Records with the carrier single “No Limitations.”

See him live at the Event Centre in SM City Consolacion today at 4 p.m. (PR)(FREEMAN)