The cinematic comeback of Charo Santos-Concio has been selected as part of the main competition of this year’s Venice International Film Festival, which will be held from August 31 to September 10.
Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Lav Diaz, Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) features the 60-year-old actress in her first starring-role in two decades. The film was entirely shot in Mindoro, the northern Philippine province where Santos-Concio hails from. It also features the actors John Lloyd Cruz, Michael de Mesa, Shamaine Buencamino, Nonie Buencamino and Marj Lorico.
"I feel like I'm starting all over again. It's like I've come full circle," said Santos-Concio, who debuted in Philippine cinema in the 1976 film Itim [Black], for which she won the best actress award at the Asian Film Festival.
“What can I say? I feel so blessed. It could have been any other actress,” she added. “This is about Lav, this is his film. The stars simply aligned that he gave me this opportunity.”
While details about the plot have been kept under wraps, Santos-Concio said of the film’s themes: “It’s about love and revenge and transcendence of one’s humanity. How do you let go of your past, how do you let go of your baggage? After going through so much pain in life, how does one begin to appreciate the inherent goodness in man again?”
Among the 20 films selected for the festival's main competition, Ang Babaeng Humayo is the only one from Asia. Clocking in at close to four hours, it is also the longest feature in the line-up. Diaz, the film's director, is known for his lengthy films: earlier this year, he won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for his eight-and-a-half-hour opus Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery).
The festival's competition features a star-studded line-up that includes Damien Chapelle's La La Land (Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone), Derek Cianfrance's The Light Between Oceans (Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander), Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals (Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams), Pablo Larrain's Jackie (Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard) and Ana Lily Amirpour's The Bad Batch (Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey).
Two other Filipino films are featured in side events of the festival: Eduardo Roy's Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary Family), in the Venice Days section, and Bradley Liew's Singing in Graveyards, in the Critics' Week section.
Filipino teams selected for Amazing Race Asia
Two couples from the Philippines have been selected to compete in the forthcoming fifth season of The Amazing Race Asia. Husband-and-wife duo Eric and Rona Tai and beauty pageant winners Maggie Wilson and Parul Shah will be representing the Philippines in the reality competition, a franchise of The Amazing Race series where teams race around the world while competing various tasks.
The Amazing Race Asia will also feature pairs of contestants from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The winning team will take home US$100,000 (Dh367,000).
Presented by Asian-American actor Allan Wu and Indonesian film star Tara Basro, the show begins production this week and will have its premiere in October.
“We are scared but also super-excited for what’s to come. We cannot wait for you to see us race and represent Team Philippines,” posted Wilson on social media.
Tai, a rugby player and television personality in Manila, was also elated: “It was an unexpected and amazing news that completely threw us over the moon.”
The fourth season of The Amazing Race Asia was won by the Filipino team of Richard Hardin and Richard Herrera.
Lustre and Reid featured in Teen Vogue
Nadine Lustre and James Reid, one of the Philippines's most popular on-screen couples, have been featured on the American magazine Teen Vogue in a story titled "James Reid and Nadine Lustre Are the Filipino Love Team You Need to Know".
The article featured an interview with the two stars, who talked about their on-screen partnership, off-camera relationship and their massive fan base.
“They only started making movies together two years ago, but the stars have completely won over the hearts of the Filipino community,” the magazine wrote.
Lustre and Reid recently announced they have begun filming for their new television drama Till I Met You, a follow-up to their successful romantic-comedy series On the Wings of Love, which was broadcast worldwide last year, including in the UAE on The Filipino Channel. The programme co-stars new actor JC Santos and is directed by Antoinette Jadaone, who was also behind On the Wings of Love.
“I’m very happy because we’re so used to working with Direk Tonette and our trio works very well,” said Reid.
Till I Met You is scheduled to debut in September.
artslife@thenational.ae