Instituto Cervantes’ PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival Kicks Off on October 3 at Greenbelt 3

Wazzup Pilipinas!

From October 3 to 13, the 18th edition of PELÍCULA-Spanish Film Festival will feature the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at Greenbelt 3. Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain, Turespaña, and the FDCP, the 2019 Spanish Film Festival will screen more than 20 films under the motto “18 Years advocating quality films on the Big Screen”.

Since its conception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish Film Festival has been an annual attraction at Greenbelt. Following that tradition, the first leg of the Festival will be held at Greenbelt 3 Cinemas from Oct 3 to 13, and it will conclude at the Cine Adarna-UP Film Institute from October 23 to 24. The second leg will feature a selection of the programmed films, including the winner of the Audience Choice Award.

With genres ranging from comedy, drama, historical, thriller, documentary, fantasy, and even animation for adults, there is a movie for every viewer. The Festival will open with an animation film for adults, Buñuel en el laberinto de las tortugas (Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles), which was preselected by the Spanish Film Academy for the next Oscars. Other movies in this year’s line-up are Els dies que vindran (Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2019), Isabel Coixet’s latest film, Elisa y Marcela (2019), the biopic Yuli (Icíar Bollaín, 2018), and the multi-awarded Isaki Lacuesta’s film Entre dos aguas (2018), which bagged the Golden Shell to the Best Film at the 2018 San Sebastian Film Festival.

Dramas will be well represented in this year’s edition, with worthy works like No sé decir adiós (Lino Escalera, 2017), Quién te cantará (Carlos Vermut, 2018), and Litus, the intimate movie for which director Dani de la Orden recently received the Best Film Award at the 2019 Malaga Film Festival. Dani de la Orden doubles in PELíCULA with the comedy, El mejor verano de mi vida (2018).

From the country that produces thrillers like the world-acclaimed series La casa de papel (Money Heist), you can expect a few gripping crime and suspense movies like the multi-awarded political thriller, El Reino (Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2018), the thriller 70 binladens (Koldo Serra, 2018), and the pseudo-documentary Apuntes para una película de atracos (Notes for a Heist Film), directed by León Siminiani in 2018.

PELÍCULA will also show Latin American cinema, with one feature film from Colombia, El piedra (Rafael Martínez Moreno, 2018), and three Argentine-Spanish co-productions: El Ángel (Luis Ortega, 2018), Mi obra maestra (Gastón Duprat, 2018), and maestro Juan José Campanella’s latest work, the black comedy El cuento de las comadrejas (The Weasels’ Tale).

A Tribute to Filipino Cinema

The Filipino word “pelikula”, derived from the Spanish word “película”, echoes the cultural ties shared by the Philippines and Spain. In line with this, since its first editions the Festival has aimed to offer joint Filipino-Spanish programs. This year, declared the Centennial Year of the Filipino Cinema by a Presidential Proclamation, PELíCULA did not want to let the opportunity pass to pay tribute to the rich history of Philippine film industry. On October 12, at 2pm, film historian Nick Deocampo will deliver a talk on the origins of cinema in the Philippines. The same day, at 4:30pm, PELÍCULA, in collaboration with TBA Studios, will screen Habambuhay (2019), presented by its director Clodualdo del Mundo. Habambuhay is a documentary that commemorates the lives and efforts of the people behind and in front of the camera who shaped the Philippine Movie Industry. It features archival footage, clips and photos, as well as exclusive interviews with screen legends like Anita Linda, Eddie Mesa, Rosemarie Gil, and Eddie Garcia, in the actor’s last in-depth interview before his passing.


Audience Choice Award

Last but not least, film buffs should not miss the yearly “Audience Choice” Award. The audience will be given stubs where they can rate the movies they have seen. For every five movies, members of the audience qualify to join the raffle where they get a chance to win free dinners in five of the best Spanish restaurants in town –namely La Pícara, Barcino, Bar Pintxos, Tapella, and Pablo Bistro. The winning movie will be re-shown on October 13, 7pm, at Greenbelt 3, and on October 24 at Cine Adarna (UP Diliman).

Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain–AECID, TurEspaña, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, PELÍCULA is made possible by Ayala Cinemas, Rustan’s and The PTC Group of Companies, in collaboration with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in The Philippines-La Cámara, UP Film Institute Intramuros Administration, Nettflix, TBA Studios, Restaurante La Pícara, Barcino, Bar Pintxos, Tapella and Pablo Bistro.

For the schedule, film details and further information on the Festival, please visit https://manila.cervantes.es or the Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes: www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila

MaSci Holds Film Seminar-Workshop

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Manila Science High School conducted a seminar-workshop on filmmaking for junior high school students at Barotilla Hall last September 18. This was held in preparation for Cinemascian 2019.

Cinemascian is an an annual film competition which aims to showcase students’ skills and creativity in the art of filmmaking, to allow them to express their views and insights on social issues surrounding them as youth through film, and to use film as a tool for social awareness and effecting change.

This year, the silver jubilarians, MSHS Batch 1994, offered their support by holding free sessions on filmmaking and video production for all Grade 10 Humanities classes under Mr. Richard Bautista.

Photographer and videographer Gelbert Aplal, advertising and content producer Dexter Manalo and advocacy filmmaker and film educator Seymour B. Sanchez, all from Batch 1994, conducted the talks.

Aplal gave practical tips on using the camera and other video production equipment. Manalo explained how the production process is carried out from ideation to final video output while Sanchez discussed ways on making the story more visual, writing the script and planning the shoot.

Students from 10-Einstein and 10-Newton attended the first session. The second session had 10-Faraday and 10-Roentgen while the last session had 10-Copernicus, 10-Lawrence and 10-Moseley.

Each section is required to submit a short film as their entry to Cinemascian this year. All entries will be judged based on storytelling and message, 40 percent; technical quality, 40 percent (10 percent each for cinematography, production design, editing and audio/music/sound effects); and acting, 20 percent.

With the approval of Principal Maria Eva Nacion and in cooperation with the Science Department led by Mark Gil Tabor, MSHS Batch 1994 is also organizing the “Agham: Kaakibat sa Kaunlaran ng Lipunan at Ekonomiya” (AKKLE) program. Patterned after the alternative classroom learning experience or ACLE, it will be held at Alzona Hall and in eight classrooms at the Science and Maceda Buildings on October 11, Friday, from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.

The talks are part of the silver jubilarian’s series of activities, which was launched at Alzona Hall last July 12 with the Google talks on innovation led by Rikki Macolor and Amante Alvaran. The event, which will be held in line with the MSHS Foundation Week, is envisioned to establish a channel to introduce alumni and their respective fields of expertise to the current students as speakers.

What Happens When You Get Banned from a Casino?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It is public knowledge that casinos make millions of dollars in profits every year. Some part of these profits stem from money players have staked on games in the casino. The stakes which players put down is in anticipation of a larger amount they could win if they are lucky. Unfortunately, more people lose their money in casinos than win. No matter the casino games which you decide to play at, be it slots, table games, there are always more losers than winners. This is the primary reason why most people try to find a way to turn luck for themselves. More often than not, they end up devising illegal means by which to get their luck to turn.

There are different illegal means which all amount to cheating that casinos prohibit and will ban you from walking into their doors if you are caught engaging in any of them. One such activity is card counting. This cheating technique is mainly used in games of blackjack. Although this technique is not deemed as illegal, but casinos will walk you out of their establishment if you are caught engaging in card counting.

Another way you can get banned from a casino is unruly behaviour which is against the casinos etiquette. There are rules that guide behaviour when you visit a casino and these rules are strict. No matter who you are, most casinos will throw you out of their doors if you flaunt these rules. One popular is unruly behaviour is getting drunk. Most people say not flaunting this rule is difficult because most casinos offer free drinks. The likelihood of you overshooting your limit is there. well, you have to keep yourself in check will taking your drinks because if you get drunk, you will be shown the door.

Losing your temper at the casino staff or other players around you is a no-no. this type of behaviour is frowned on by most casinos. Most people engage in transferred aggression and this is further heightened when you find yourself on a losing streak in a casino. The tendency to lose you temper is there but you have to reign it in. If for any reason you let go of your temper you would be asked to leave the casino and depending on how offensive you become you could be banned from returning.

We are in the age of taking selfies wherever we go, so taking a picture in a casino shouldn’t be a big deal right? Well, you might be wrong. Before you give into the urge to take that selfie, kindly find out if picture taking is allowed in the casino so you don’t get into trouble. This is also closely followed by loitering. Even if you want to observe casinos before deciding which one to patronise, don’t loiter. Spending a few minutes looking around is fine, but when you spend an unreasonable amount of time moving around a casino, that is suspicious behaviour and might get you banned.

There are some repercussions to getting a ban from a casino. They first is you are listed in the casinos black book. What this means is you are now red-flagged and would not be allowed back into the casino. Getting your name into a casino’s black book is a serious issue as you might find yourself been closely watched when you visit other casinos. This is because, most casinos would likely inform their counterparts of your behaviour or offense and cause them to be on the alert when you walk in through their doors. Now, depending on the gravity of the offense you committed, you might also be given a life ban, or the ban could have a time frame. For a life ban, you can never step foot into that casino again. No matter where the casino sets up shop, you will not be granted access to any of their gaming floors. If the ban has a time frame attached to it, when it is elapsed, you might be allowed to return to the casino gaming floor.

One other repercussion of getting banned from a casino is you could be sued for trespass. If you get banned from a casino and for whatever reason you find your way back there, you might see yourself in trouble with the law. This isn’t always the case with most people because casinos differ, and their treatment of offenses also differ. Nevertheless, there is the possible of facing the law if this is the recourse the casino chooses to follow as regards your offensive. This shouldn’t come as a shock as most casinos state this course of actions in their rules and regulation guiding the treatment of offenses. It is left to you to be properly informed.

These infractions are related to land-based casinos, but online casinos are not left out. There are offenses which players commit against online casinos that could get them banned from playing on the site. One such way is underage gambling. All casino sites state clearly that you must be 18 and above before you are allowed to place bets or wagers on the site. If you are 17 and 23 months, you are not 18 years old. If you are found out, you will be blocked from gaining access to the online casino. Would you be able to play on other online casinos? Maybe, but somewhere you are on a watchlist and been carefully monitored.

Regular individuals to celebrities, have all suffered bans from casinos. This could be as a result of card counting, unruly behaviour or disregard of the casino rules and regulations. No matter what the offense is there are, oftentimes, severe consequences for your actions. It could result in you getting a life ban from the casino or even prosecution, all dependent on the gravity of your offense. Avoid any of these actions or infractions and you can continue playing at any casino of your choice.