4-22 June 2008

FILIPINO FILMS AT THE SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL

The Philippine Consulate General in Sydney announces that the 55th Sydney Film Festival which will be held from 4 to 22 June 2008 will feature two Filipino films, both directed by acclaimed Filipino director, Brillante Mendoza. The titles of the films are as follows:

1. Slingshot (Tirador)
The indie film is about the fast and furious insight into the multiple stories of the daily life of the slums in Manila. This is a fiction film but Mendoza’s impressive skill is to impose a calculated narrative onto Manila’s constant unpredictability, shaping its ground-level chaos into art.

2. Foster Child
The film features a day in the life of a foster family preparing to say goodbye to the boy they have raised. This is Mendoza’s most mature work, exhibiting a fine sense of control along with a sophisticated use of space. Structurally pared down to the essentials, the film’s focused, linear progression allows character and emotion to gently build without the unwieldy shifts.

The Sydney Film Festival screens feature films, documentaries, short films and animations. It is New South Wales’ finest showcase for contemporary cinema from Australia and around the world. It is a major cultural event in Sydney and one of the world’s longest running film festivals.

Director Mendoza will come to Sydney during the Festival to introduce the screening of each Filipino films. He will also participate in other festival and industry functions, media and audience interviews and panel discussions. His participation to the Sydney Film festival was supported by the Philippine Consulate General through the National Commission of Culture and Arts.

Consul General Maria Theresa P. Lazaro said that “the Sydney Film Festival is one of the excellent venues to project the artistic and technical expertise of Filipino film directors. Slingshot and Foster Child have received numerous awards from the different film festivals around the world and it will not be a surprise if said films will also receive that recognition.”

The Consulate invites the Filipino-Australian community to attend the presentations of the above Filipino films. The screening is as follows:

1. Slingshot (Tirador)
10 and 11 June 2008
Greater Union George Street Cinemas

2. Foster Child
9 and 12 June 2008
Greater Union George Street Cinemas

For more information on the details of the full program of the 55th Sydney Film Festival, please visit www.sydneyfilmfestival.org.