Lauchengco marks 40 years

SINGER Raymond Lauchengco will be holding a major concert celebrating his 40 years in showbiz titled Just Got Lucky on Nov. 23, 8 p.m., at The Theater at Solaire. Joining him onstage will be his guest star Bituin Escalante. The show will be directed by Waya Gallardo, with musical direction by Marvin Querido. Tickets are available at TicketWorld.

Women’s films in focus

FOR the first time in its history, the French Film Festival will feature Feminist cinema in a cross-cultural perspective between France and the Philippines, with a selection of films by the new generation of both French and Filipina women directors. The Embassy of France, in partnership with SM Supermalls and SM Cinema, is staging the 27th edition of the French Film Festival from Nov. 22 to 29, with a selection of 14 French feature films showing at the SM Aura Premier in Taguig City and SM City North EDSA in Quezon City. Special screenings will also be held at the Alliance Française de Manille, University of the Philippines Film Institute, and De La Salle College of Saint Benilde. This year, the festival’s “godmother” will be Filipina director Sigrid Bernardo, who will open the event with a roundtable discussion on the status of women through cinema at SM Aura on Nov. 22. A special screening of her short film, May at Nila, a love story between two Filipino women during the Japanese Occupation, will be held prior to the roundtable discussion. A special guest – French director Noémie Lefort – will also present her movie, My Heroin, about a young girl who dreams of directing a film in Hollywood. She will take part in a roundtable discussion on the place of women in cinema at SM North on Nov. 26. She will also give a masterclass on film directing to film students. For the full schedule of screenings, visit French Film Festival’s social media pages.

Dokyumentado film fest screens student works

STUDENT filmmakers focus on childhood experiences, both good and bad, in the documentaries lined up for Dokyumentado, the inaugural documentary film festival of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), which runs from Nov. 23 to Dec. 7 in FDCP cinematheques nationwide. In a statement, FDCP Chair and Chief Executive Officer Jose Javier Reyes stressed the importance of documentary filmmaking, “most especially at a time of information overload and alternative truths.” The significance of this genre especially among the young is “to bring about a generation rich with thought, courage and dedication to the value of truth,” he said. The festival includes acclaimed student documentaries: Nanay Tatay was awarded Special Jury Mention while Remnants of the Lost Childhood bagged the Special Jury Prize and Best Cinematography award in two different editions of the TAM DokyuFest, the student documentary festival of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Department of Communication. Meanwhile, Mariposa, directed by Melanie Faye of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, won Best Screenplay at the Las Vegas Filipino Short Film Festival and was a short film finalist of the recent Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. These student shorts, among other full-length documentaries, will be shown in FDCP Cinematheque Centers in Manila, Negros, Nabunturan, and Davao from Nov. 23 to Dec. 7. Documentaries will also stream at JuanFlix: The FDCP Channel.

National Sardines Month celebrated

MEGA SARDINES will hold an event marking National Sardines Month on Nov. 24, 2 p.m., at the Market! Market!, Activity Center in BGC, Taguig City. There will be carnival booths, with celebrities and food influencers in attendance. These include Judy Ann Santos Agoncillo, Ninong Ry, and Cong TV, whom the public can interact with as they try food at the various booths.

Guitar concert canceled

THE Instituto Cervantes has announced that due to unforeseen circumstances, the two concerts featuring acclaimed Spanish guitarist Miguel Trápaga this November have been canceled. The concerts, The guitar in the time of Manuel de Falla, were originally meant to take place on Nov. 25 at the University of the Philippines Diliman and Nov. 28 at the Intramuros branch of Instituto Cervantes. The performances will instead be rescheduled for February 2025.

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