France's International Program Produire au Sud Puts a Spotlight on PH Cinema on its 20th Anniversary

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

The Produire au Sud (PAS), the international training program designed for young directors and producers from Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and the professional side of the Festival des 3 Continents (also known as the Three Continents Festival), with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) as its official partner, presents one film and one film project representing the country in the festival from November 20 to 26 in Nantes, France.

The PAS 20th anniversary celebrations are within the framework of the 43rd edition of the Festival des 3 Continents. The PAS anniversary program this year includes the retrospective, “20 Years of Produire au Sud,” a diverse selection of eighteen films featured in the past to illustrate the success of  the workshop and festival through the years, using the occasion as well as an opportunity to reflect both upon the history of the workshop and its future position within a changing and dynamic industry. Part of the selection is Shireen Seno’s award-winning Filipino film Nervous Translation that took part in the 2014 Bangkok PAS workshop.

PAS alumni, Nervous Translation tells the story of Yael, a shy eight year-old girl who lives in her private world, and finds out about a pen that can translate thoughts and feelings of nervous people.

As part of the PAS 20th anniversary celebration, Festival des 3 Continents is hosting the 21st PAS workshop where The Boy and the Fight of Spiders (Diwalwal), directed by Jarell Serencio and produced by Alexandra Maria Poblete of Los Otros, is participating along with five other producer-director pairs and their respective feature film projects benefiting from the experience, teaching, and  training of a group of experts, from development to the beginning of production. Both Serencio and Poblete are physically attending the workshop in Nantes, with the support of the Agency.

Diwalwal, an FDCP Southern Voices (SoVo) Film Lab grantee and participant, is about a spider-obsessed 12 year-old boy living in the Southern Philippines, who uncovers a web of lies as he looks for the bodies of his brother and father after losing them in a tunnel collapse.

“As a partner to this prestigious international workshop, we are proud that our country is represented by the award-winning film Nervous Translation, which has been selected to be part of the retrospective for the 20th anniversary of PAS. For the 21st edition this year, our very own SoVo grantee film project Diwalwal, following in the former’s footsteps, is taking part in this workshop. We strongly believe that this journey will equip the participating filmmakers with the knowledge and tools they will need to complete their film,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño.

The Festival des 3 Continents is an international competition with special screenings, retrospectives, tributes and thematic programmes, the festival presents a wide range of fiction and documentary films from Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The festival runs from November 19 to 28.