From left: Festival Director Lola Abrera, Amb. Dizon-de Vega, and Film Programmer Trinka Lat welcome the audience to the Festival’s Opening Night.
07 November 2019, Berlin – The First Reel Philippine Film Festival opened in Germany’s oldest cinema, Kino Moviemento, in the heart of Berlin last November 6.
The festival’s Opening film is the restored version of Filipino classic “Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?” written and directed by Eddie Romero and starring some of the Philippines’ premier thespians, Christopher De Leon, Eddie Garcia, Leopoldo Salcedo, and Gloria Diaz.
The opening film was followed by an Interactive Philippine Culinary Session with Filipino-German Chef Bulawan Callanta of Berlin’s AYAN Restaurant. The session included an Adobo Cook-off. The side event was sponsored by the Philippine Embassy in Berlin.
In a Welcome Message, Ambassador Theresa Dizon-De Vega lauded the initiative of Festival Director Lola Abrera and Film Programmer Trinka Lat for coming up with a platform to showcase the diversity and multiplicity of narratives in Philippine cinema. She promised more collaborative work with the First Reel Team in the future.
The festival with the theme “Of Lives and Labels” runs until 10 November at Kino Moviemento and features side events after each screening including a Story-Telling Session on November 9 co-moderated by the Philippine Embassy’s Consul Catherine Rose Torres.
For more information, visit First Reel Facebook page, @thefirstreel. END
Left photo: Chef Bulawan leads an interactive culinary session. Right photo: Guests enjoy the four versions adobo prepared by cook-off contestants.
