Cinemalaya 6 - The Opening

The world will be watching is the tag line of Cinemalaya 6. I and two friends attended the opening of Cinemalaya 6 last night. I was surprised and delighted to see more patrons in this year's edition of the annual film festival than in previous years. In competition in this year are 24 films - 5 in the Directors' Showcase and 19 in the New Breed category (10 shorts, 9 in feature films).

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We had to endure the not-so-impressive opening ceremonies while waiting for Nicanor Abelardo Theater to open for the opening film. When, finally, the theater was opened and the ushers allowed us in, my friends and I immediately secured good seats and waited eagerly for the film Ganap Na Babae (a.k.a. Garden of Eve). It was only after the film showing, when we were about to leave the theater, that we realized we occupied the seats reserved for production staff of Ganap Na Babae.

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How do I find the film? On our way out of CCP were approached by a TV crew asking us to be interviewed about the film. We courteously declined the crew's request because we had nothing good to say about the film. The opening film (Ganap Na Babae) is trite and too pretentious. The editing is a nightmare. It tries to achieve something but fails miserably in the process. I can't find enough reasons to like the film.

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Today, I plan to watch 3 or 4 movies in competition. I'm very excited and hopeful that these films will deliver despite the disappointing opening film.