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Founded in 2004 by the organizers of the Cinemanila International Film Festival in cooperation with the Hubert Bals Fund and with the Goteborg Film Festival, the Boracay Co-Production Meeting is considered as the first co-production market in the Philippines. Aside from providing partial financial assistance to selected films, it also aims to bring together quality and feasible projects from filmmakers with demonstrable talent and ability to create a network among Southeast Asian filmmakers and producers. Judging the film projects, the selection committee looks closely at the project’s content and artistic value.
Past winners of the grants include Singaporean producer Juan Foo and director Han Yew Kang for their entry “Pinball” (Goteborg grant), acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz for his project “Heremias” (Hubert Bals grant), young promising filmmaker Raya Martin (Hubert Bals grant) and Pimpaka Towira, a pioneer in the Thai independent film scene who is recognized as the first female Thai director to be noticed internationally for her project “The Islanf Funeral”.
Babi Buta Yang Ingin Terband (Blind Pigs Who Wants To Fly), Indonesia
Director : Edwin
Producer : Meiske Taurisia
This story is told by eight charaters, firecrackers and one blind pig who wants to fly. Feelings of disorientation, emptiness, dissatisfaction, and wounding bring together eight interesting people of diverse cultural origins and interweaving quest to realize their identities. A fragile yet beautiful tale about eight characters building a mosaic about hope.
Karaoke, Malaysia
Director : Chris Chong Chan Fui
Producer : Paul Lee
A story set in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia about hoe the queer community seek unity and love amidst the rending culture divides. JR’s quest for love brings him to unexplored realms, breaking down Malay-Chinese Barriers, and introduces him to a world that is captured in song. The technique of Karaoke subtitling will playfully yet effective reinforce this notion. Indeed, our next true love could be but one song away.
Ang Manghuhula (The Fortune Teller), Philippines
Director : Paolo Herras
Producer : Joseph David Santos
A tale about an outcast and failed fortune-teller who returns home to save her daughter from fate she herself had escaped. The only way to remove her daughter from the clutches of her family’s mystical tradition and from a syndicate bent on exploiting her abilities is to embrace the gift of seeing the future, no matter how bleak and inescapable.
Paslit Puslit (Young Thief), Philippines
Director : Tey Clamor
Producer : Misha Lecaros
A story that highlights children’s innocence, hope, life, and courage in the midst of odds that compels them to a life of petty crimes. Pendong, Burnok, Oca, and Nano “steal” what they believe are rightfully theirs and get away with it, until they go for “big time”. Planning and executing the robbing of a store owned by a rich Chinese merchant brings the boys together in a test of friendship and societies influence on its youth.
Pungguk Rindukan Bulan, Malaysia
Director : Azhar Rudiin
Producer : Amir Muhammad
A location-specific, coming-of-age story set on Bukit Chagar Flats beside the causeway, which will be demolished at the end of 2007. This backdrop, in a state of transition, lends poignancy to the story of Sidi, who is left by his mother to his father Adnan. It is a sweet, observational piece about growing up, longing and the need to belong. The literal meaning of the title is a Malay saying” like the owl misses the moon” a reflection of unrequited (and unconsummated) longing.
Regina, Philippines
Director : Sally Jo Marie Bellosillo
Producer : Renato Romero
A young woman, torn by abandonment by her father and betrayal by her lover, becomes an escort to reclaim herself. In spite of a heart steeled by hurt, and a profession that scorns the very idea of it, love unexpectedly finds its way back into her life.
Whistler, Philippines
Director : Roxlee
Documentary film maker Ceasar continues his journey with a search for a tribe that still practices the early writing styles of pre-Spanish era Filipinos. During a trip on an old train. He wakes to find himself in “Whistle Town” where the folks talk by whistling. A whimsical combination of animation and live-action documentary and feature making.
World Without Shadow, Malaysia
Director : Khoo Eng Yow
Producer : Fahmi Fadzil
The wayang kulit, the centuries-old art of shadow play, is under threat in the state of Kelantan, Malaysia. It is now considered a threat to Islamic religious values, thus driving its practitioners to risk their lives for the art of their ancestors. This documentary looks into the struggles of the few remaining master puppeteers who hold steadfastly onto their dying art despite the odds. |
