The fourth season of Sinag Maynila Film Festival: Sine Lokal, Pang-Internasyonal is officially open from March 7 to 15, 2018 in select SM cinemas within Metro Manila.
Filmmakers and the actors from each film entry, special guests, and the media were invited to grace the opening ceremony of the festival held at the iMax lobby of SM North EDSA The Block. Sinag Maynila opens its festival with a special screening of Paris Prestige directed by Mohamed "Hamé" Bourockba and Ekoué Labitey.
Originally titled as Les derniers Parisiens, Paris Prestige was shot spontaneously as a hand-held camera is attached close to its actors in the bars, clubs, and streets of Pigalle. The film turns on Nas, fresh out of jail, who attempts to turn Le Prestige, the bar he co-owns with elder brother Arezki, into a hot nightclub for high-rollers and deep-pocketed tourists. Nas is determined to make a name for himself, and Le Prestige might just be the stepping stone he's looking for. Paris Prestige stars Reda Kateb (“Django”) as Nassir, Slimane Dazi (“Only Lovers Left Alive”) as Arezki, and Mélanie Laurent (“Inglourious Basterds”) as Margot.
Paris Prestige marks the awaited feature debut of Mohamed Bourockba and Ekoué Labitey, two of France’s best rappers known as LA RUMEUR. “We wanted the film to relay the urgency and insecurities that seize our characters. Our ambition was to direct a fiction film that is grounded in the reality of its stories, its main location, of these two generations still infused with risks and tensions. Shaping and writing this film was a long thought-out process but it also bears the hazards encountered in its making,” says Bourockba and Labitey in an official statement.
The 2018 Sinag Maynila Film Festival will be from March 7 to 15 in select SM Cinemas within Metro Manila— SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, SM Fairview, SM Southmall, SM Bacoor, SM Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa. Sinag Maynila Film Festival is made possible by McDonald’s, in partnership with FDCP and CineLokal. Special thanks to our official venue partners SM and SM Cinema.
Get the full list of entries and details via http://sinagmaynila.com/. Join the conversation at #SinagMaynila2018! Get updates on Sinag Maynila via Facebook.com/SinagMaynila, Twitter and Instagram via @sinagmaynila. Subscribe also to the official Sinag Maynila Youtube Account: https://www.youtube.com/SinagMaynila.
In celebration of the 100 years of Philippine Cinema, Sinag Maynila independent Film Festival 2018 is partnering with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and CineLokal. For a hundred years of filmmaking in the Philippines in the hands of native-born filmmakers starting with Don Jose Nepomuceno in 1917 (with the establishment of his company, Malayan Movies), the history of Philippine cinema has gone through diverse and unbridled periods. It began with the colonial period under Spanish and American rulers, it has survived a tragic war under the Japanese, enjoyed an advancement during the post-war independence, went through the period of Martial Law, and has transformed in the modern digital era.
For the week of March 7-15, Sinag Maynila and FDCP have lined up special screenings, forums, and workshops to further highlight the 100 years of film in the Philippines.
