Local indie film fest postponed amid COVID-19 scare

Sinag Maynila has postponed this year's indie film festival following the rise of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the country.

The local film fest was supposed to be held from March 17 to 24. It had a line-up of four full-length features, six documentaries and ten short films.

In an Instagram post, Sinag Maynila's distributor Solar Pictures expressed its gratitude to the festival sponsors and partners who supported the decision to suspend the event.

"The company assures the participating filmmakers, film enthusiasts, Sinag Maynila followers, and the Filipino film community that the independent film fest will definitely be held at a more opportune time," the statement read.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In light of recent news related to the confirmed novel corona virus (COVID-19) cases, the organizers of Sinag Maynila have postponed the 2020 independent film festival. Sinag Maynila 2020, which was set to open on March 17 and set to run until March 24, had lined up four full-length features, six documentaries, and ten short films in competition. Moreover, six movies were to be featured in its showcase section which included Lino Brocka’s White Slavery, the classic Filipino Romance Maalaala Mo Kaya (1954) by Mar S. Torres with Carmen Rosales and Rogelio de la Rosa, Berlinale’s Silver Bear for best screenplay La paranza dei bambini by Claudio Giovannesi, and Berlinale FIPRESCI Award winner Dafne by Federico Bondi. The screening of all these will be deferred to a still undetermined date. The organizers have also postponed the parallel events such as the film appreciation talks, post-production lectures, filmmakers’ fellowship, and the Gabi Ng Parangal at Conrad Hotel. The documentary on Imelda Marcos entitled The Kingmaker by Lauren Greenfield was supposed to be screened during Sinag Maynila 2020 from March 18-24. With this development, the film will be available to the public beginning March 25 in select cinemas. Sinag Maynila’s distributor Solar Pictures would like to thank all of the festival’s sponsors and partners for supporting the decision to postpone the festival at this time. The company assures the participating filmmakers, film enthusiasts, Sinag Maynila followers, and the Filipino film community that the independent filmfest will definitely be held at a more opportune time. #SinagMaynila2020

A post shared by Sinag Maynila Film Festival (@sinagmaynila) on

Mar 10, 2020 at 1:03am PDT

Six screenings of movies including Lino Brocka's "White Slavery," the classic Filipino romance "Maalaala Mo Kaya," and the award-winning "La paranza dei bambini" were also suspended indefinitely.

Other parallel events such as film appreciation talks, post-production lectures, filmmakers' fellowship, and the Gabi ng Parangal were postponed.

The organizers also said that they originally planned to showcase "Kingmaker," a documentary about former first lady Imelda Marcos, during the event.

The documentary would be available for public viewing on March 25 in select cinemas. —Angelica Y. Yang/MGP, GMA News