NEC and Hortonworks Expand Partnership to Deliver Distributed Processing Platform for Big Data

NEC Corporation and Hortonworks, Inc. (Hortonworks®) today announced the expansion of their strategic partnership in the field of distributed Big Data processing platforms. The companies are combining NEC’s “Data Platform for Hadoop” with Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP^TM), powered by Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark, that allows enterprise customers to process structured and un-structured data on a single platform. NEC will introduce and market the Big Data platform solution throughout global markets with support from Hortonworks.

This strategic relationship between NEC - a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies, and Hortonworks - an industry-leading innovator that creates, distributes and supports enterprise-ready open data platforms, allows each company to leverage its core competencies and maximize the benefits delivered to their enterprise customers and partners. Through this extended relationship, Hortonworks will certify NEC’s Data Platform for Hadoop with HDP^TM as a Big Data Appliance which is build and optimized for Big Data workloads. NEC will leverage the knowhow of Hortonworks in the integration of Big Data as well as its best-in class Hadoop expertise and support services.

This partnership aims to achieve the following:

• NEC and Hortonworks will align engineering teams to verify HDP and incorporate use cases such as Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) offload or Data Lake in order to accelerate the deployment of NEC’s Data Platform for Hadoop.
• Big Data technologies are changing rapidly. NEC and Hortonworks will strive towards enabling their customers to always use the latest Big Data technologies such as Apache Hadoop and Apache Spark and maximize the benefits derived from them.
• NEC will provide its clients with a high-quality Hortonworks certified platform to accelerate HDP deployment and enable customers to utilize the latest Big Data solution for their business expansion. 
• NEC and Hortonworks will offer an easy upgrade path to customers by providing pre-validated and certified upgrades of the Hadoop version in use.
• Both NEC and Hortonworks are committed to integrate their engineering collaboration and go-to-market plans and to expand this business into new and developing markets. The focus of this collaboration is to enable customers and partners with the latest use cases and market trends that can assist them in realizing their Data Driven Digital Transformation Journey.
• NEC provides enterprises with Hortonworks DataFlow (HDF^TM) and Hortonworks Professional Services in order to implement HDP and HDF, which enables customers to quickly create business value and successfully realize their Big Data vision.

“It’s important for organizations to make fast and informed decisions by extracting business insights from huge volumes of data. In order to accomplish this, NEC is committed to providing organizations with the best Hadoop platform for data management and processing. In pursuit of this commitment, we have established a Centre of Excellence for Analytics Platform and Solutions in India, which focuses on research and development of futuristic Big Data solutions and provides end-to-end sales and support functions to its clients. By becoming a Platinum reseller for Hortownworks, we are uniquely positioned to provide a certified Big Data solution to the market,” said Tomoyasu Nishimura, Sr. VP, NEC Corporation. “We look forward to extending this partnership to the next level to deliver more innovative solutions.”

"I am very pleased to welcome NEC as one of Hortonworks’ Platinum partners. I am sure that the certified Big Data solution stack of NEC’s Data Platform for Hadoop and Hortonworks Data Platform (HDP) will provide our customers and partners with leading-edge data-driven solutions and advantages to grow their businesses,” said Christopher Sullivan, SVP, Global Channels & Alliances, Hortonworks.

The partnership between NEC and Hortonworks was initiated in September 2015. Since then, the companies have collaborated on a variety of projects, enabling them to acquire key clients in the Telecom and Banking sector.

2nd German Film Week Kicks off Sept. 27

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The second German Film Week opened last September 27 with the Philippine premiere of "My Brother Simple" (Simpel, 2017) at the SM Mall of Asia Cinema 4. German filmmaker Markus Goller, whom the Goethe-Institut flew in especially for the occasion, gamely answered questions from the audience after the screening. 

Aside from the opening film, an interesting slate of films that presents the wide range of contemporary German cinema makes up this year's festivities. After its successful launch last year, the festival once again offers a diverse selection of films in its goal of promoting German language and culture. 

The German Film Week draws film buffs and students from all over the Philippines, as well as filmmakers, members of the media and industry leaders. This year’s lineup of films were carefully selected among the latest releases in Germany, some of which have already received numerous awards in international film festivals. 

"We are truly excited to unveil this year’s films and new voices to Philippine audiences," said Dr. Ulrich Nowak, director of Goethe-Institut Philippinen. "Whether mainstream, romantic comedies, or micro-budget indies, we made sure our festival attendees will be entertained and pleased." 

In addition to German films, this year's edition will also feature a film by acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza. "Captive," which has been screened at a previous Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), will be shown during the week-long festival. In one of these screenings, a film appreciation session will follow wherein audiences will get to meet and speak with the multi-awarded director. 

"The Brillante Mendoza screening is an addition to this year’s program," Dr. Nowak explained. "Our goal at the institute has always been to promote cultural exchange between Germany and the countries we support. And this is one way to achieve that goal -- to share German features and highlight Filipino creativity." 

The succeeding film screenings will run from Sept. 28 to October 5 at SM Mall of Asia and SM North EDSA. Subsequent screenings will take place in SM Clark, Cebu and Davao in October. 

Tickets are priced at 100 pesos for all German films and 200 pesos for Captive. Tickets may be purchased at the cinema counters of participating SM malls. 

The German Film Week is made possible through the partnership with SM Lifestyle Malls and SM Cinemas and the support of the Film Development Council of the Philippines. For more information, visit Goethe.de/Manila. 

GERMAN FILM WEEK TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phmq-EclIBs

PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival runs at Greenbelt 3 from Oct. 5 to 15

Wazzup Pilipinas!

PELÍCULA-PELIKULA, the biggest Spanish film festival in Asia, will be featuring the best of contemporary Spanish cinema at the Greenbelt 3 Cinemas in Makati from October 5 to 15 . Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain-AECID, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Ayala Cinemas, the 16th edition of the festival will screen more than 20 films.

Since the festival's inception in 2002 by Instituto Cervantes, it has traditionally been graced by the presence of Spanish and Latin American filmmakers. In this edition, film director Salvador Calvo will fly to Manila to open the Festival with his movie 1898, Los últimos de Filipinas. Produced in 2016, the film retells the story of the Baler siege, where in 1898 a group of Spanish soldiers resisted for 337 days without knowing that the war was over. The filmmaker will have a Q&A with the audience on October 6, 9:30 p.m.

On October 6, 4:30 p.m., Spanish director Sally Gutiérrez will present her documentary Ta acorda ba Tu el Filipinas? Produced in 2017, and selected by several festivals around the world like the Seminci (Valladolid International Film Festival in Spain) and the Los Angeles Philippine Film Festival, the Manila screening will be the world premiere of her work.

Película's lineup of films shows a list of genres ranging from romance and comedy (La noche en que mi madre mató a mi madre, El ciudadano ilustre) to documentaries (Frágil equilibrio), thrillers (Al final del túnel, El hombre de las mil caras), animation movies (Psiconautas), and dramas (Que Dios nos perdone, Tarde para la ira). The film festival also gives tribute to Latin- American cinema with movies from Argentina, México and Venezuela.

On October 10, in collaboration with the Embassy of Argentina, Película will focus on the Argentinean film industry with the showing of the documentary El auge del humano, the multi-awarded comedy El ciudadano ilustre, and the drama Kóblic, which will be shown at 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 9:30 p.m., respectively.
In December, a selection of the films from the festival will be screened in Baguio, Iloilo, and Davao in December in collaboration with FDCP.      

Audience Choice Award
Also, one should not miss the “Audience Choice” Award that happens in every edition of PELÍCULA. During the Festival, the audience will be given stubs with which 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 a round-trip ticket to Spain.

Presented by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain–AECID, FDCP and Ayala Cinemas, PELÍCULA is made possible by Rustan’s, Fundador, Turkish Airlines, Philippine Transmarine Carriers, and TurEspaña, in collaboration with Ayala Museum, Diamond Hotel, the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, Cut Print Productions, the Embassy of Argentina, the Embassy of Mexico, the Embassy of Venezuela, and UP Film Institute.
For the schedule, lineup of films and further information on the festival, please visit the Instituto Cervantes website (www.manila.cervantes.es)or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila).