If I Could Be at Cinemanila…

Cinemanila’s been ongoing for almost a week now and I have yet to watch anything from the festival’s line-up. (I was there for the opening film pero we decided not to finish watching it kasi medyo di namin trip eh) Kainis. I really want to go there and watch but my current situation just won’t permit me to. What’s more of a bummer is that there are films in the festival that I’m actually really looking forward to seeing. Tsk… pirata na lang nga. Hopefully!

OFFSCREEN
country: Denmark
year: 2006
director: Christoffer Boe
cast: Nicolas Bro, Lene Christensen, Christoffer Boe

synopsis: Nicolas Bro (Nicolas Bro) is an actor who uses his handheld camera as a means of making the outside world a more tolerable place. When his best friend Christoffer (director Boe) suggests that Nicolas film every aspect of his life as a means of breaking his stifling inhibitions, Nicolas determines to capture a real life love story on camera as he attempts to win back his wife Lene. Though initially an amusing distraction, Nicolas growing penchant for filming the most intimate aspects of his personal life finds him becoming increasingly distanced from the real-world repercussions of his actions.

Got really excited when I saw this in the Cinemanila program. Christoffer Boe’s first film “Reconstruction” instantly became one of my favorite films after seeing it also at Cinemanila back in 2004. This is already his third full-length feature after “Allegro” in 2005. What’s interesting with “Offscreen” is that its main actors actually play themselves in the film — they are the actual characters. Even Boe himself appears as a character here. And to keep with the concept of “man with a movie camera”, most of the film was actually shot by its lead actor/character Nicholas Bro using a handheld camera. Coolness! Another great mind-bender from Boe for sure.  ::  [schedule: Aug.14 – 6pm]

PARIS, JE T’AIME
country: France
year: 2007
directors: Olivier Assayas, Frédéric Auburtin, Emmanuel Benbihy, Gurinder Chadha, Sylvain Chomet, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Isabel Coixet, Wes Craven, Alfonso Cuarón, Gérard Depardieu, Christopher Doyle, Richard LaGravenese, Vincenzo Natali, Alexander Payne, Bruno Podalydès, Walter Salles, Oliver Schmitz, Nobuhiro Suwa, Daniela Thomas, Tom Tykwer, Gus Van Sant
cast: Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Miranda Richardson, Maggie Gyllenhall, etc.

synopsis: Twenty acclaimed filmmakers from around the world look at love in the City of Lights in this omnibus feature. Paris Je T’aime features eighteen short stories, each set in a different part of Paris and each featuring a different cast and director (two segments were produced by two filmmakers in collaboration)… [full synopsis]

I learned of this through Ayn, who got to see the movie while she was in Berlin early this year. Astig… Paris in the eyes of the “who’s who” of world cinema. Particular segments I’m really curious about are those by Wes Craven (“Père-Lachaise”), Sylvain Chomet (“Tour Eiffel”) and Gus Van Sant (“Le Marais”). Found out that Christoffer Boe also shot a segment for the project. Supposedly, however, his segment could not be integrated into the film properly so it ended up not being included. In any case, “Paris, je t’aime” is still a definite must-see pour moi. Hopefully, we get another screening of it here soon or better yet, it shows up in our favorite, ahem, DVD outlets.  ::  [schedule: Aug.12 – 6.30pm]