The Venice Film Festival Comes To Manila This July

One of the world’s most prestigious film festivals is coming to Manila. The Venice Film Festival will be happening at the Venice Grand Canal Mall in Taguig City from July 26 to 31. Eleven films have been lined up to be shown during the festival, including 3 Filipino films that have been previously part of the festival.

According to Business World, holding the festival in Manila was made possible through the cooperation of the Biennale di Venezia in with the Italian Embassy in Manila and the support of Manila’s Societa Dante Alighieri and the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines.

8 Italian Films And 3 Filipino Films, For Only P50 Each Film

The eleven films chosen for the festival were selected by the Biennale di Venezia, the arts organization that organizes the festival in Venice. The line up includes Italian films that have won different awards during the festival, such as Piuma by Roan Johnson and Profumo di Donna (Scent of a Woman) by Dino Risi.

The 3 Filipino films that will shown as well are Lav Diaz’s award-winning Ang Babaeng Humayo, Brillante Mendoza’s Thy Womb and Francis Xavier Pasion’s Jay. Diaz won the 2016 Golden Lion award for his film that starred Charo Santos-Concio and John Lloyd Cruz.

During the festival, screenings in the morning will be free and open to the public. Afternoon screenings, on the other hand, will only be P50 per film.

First Time In ASEAN

This is the festival’s first time to be shown in the Southeast Asian region. According to a Philippine Star report, the event is Italy’s way of saying thanks to the Philippines for “coming back to the Biennale” after being absent in the festival for over 50 years. The country only recently came back to join the festival in 2015. Italian Ambassador Massimo Roscigno said, “We consider this presence at the Biennale as very important, and in a way, we consider this our way of thanking the Philippines for coming back to the Biennale.”