Films by Filipino directors have been selected to grace the big screen of the 26th Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine, Italy.
Three films are currently competing for the festival lineup which are Samantha Lee’s Rookie (2023), Kevin Mayuga’s When This Is All Over (2023), and Jun Robles Lana’s Becky and Badette (2023).
Meanwhile, National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Lino Brocka’s White Slavery (1985) and Mike de Leon’s Third World Hero (1999) are part of the film festival’s Restored Classics section.
The competing films were showcased at the Teatro Nuovo alongside other films by filmmakers from South Korea, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam while those in the Restored Classics section were shown at the Cinema Visionario.
On May 2, there will be a panel discussion about the Philippine film industry moderated by writer and editor Don Jaucian. The panel will include Lana, Lee, Mayuga, and actress Eugene Domingo from Becky and Badette.
Other participants will also include other members of the production crew such as Becky and Badette producer Perci Intalan, Rookie producer Angelica Grace Tomas, Rookie screenwriter Nathalia Jadaone, When This Is All Over screenwriter Abbey De Guia-Mayuga, When This Is All Over executive producer Christine De Guia, When This Is All Over producer Jan Pineda, and When This Is All Over costume designer Mano Gonzales.
For the film festival’s Focus Asia 2024, filmmaker Antoinette Jadaone’s upcoming film Sunshine was presented at the Far East in Progress, which serves as a platform where Asian films that were in post-production can be presented for international distribution and festival premieres. Meanwhile, Nikolas Red’s Posthouse was presented at the All Genres Project Market, which hopes to explore funding opportunities as well as Asian and European co-production.
The Far East Film Festival is an annual film festival that serves as a promotion of the films created by skilled filmmakers within the Asian film industry. The 26th edition of the film festival runs from April 24 until May 2.