‘Mañanita,’ ‘Motel Acacia’, and Other PH Films Join Tokyo Int’l Film Fest

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Eight impressive Filipino films will be featured at the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) starting October 28 in Tokyo, Japan, including Paul Soriano’s “Mañanita” and Bradley Liew’s “Motel Acacia” in Competition and Asian Future Sections.

Filipino filmmakers in attendance in Tokyo are “Mañanita”’s Director Paul Soriano and Bela Padilla; “Motel Acacia”’s Director Bradley Liew, JC Santos, Bianca Balbuena, Ben Padero, Carlo Tabije, Ben Tolentino, April Batican, Kriz Gazmen, and Quark Henares; “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”’s Director Antoinette Jadaone; and “Untrue”’s Director Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo.

Meanwhile, other Filipino films which will participate at TIFF are “Mindanao” by Brillante Ma Mendoza, Food Lore Series - “Island of Dreams” by Erik Matti, “The Entity” (“Kuwaresma”) directed by Erik Matti, and “The Halt” (“Ang Hupa”) by Lav Diaz.

“It has been a fruitful year for Philippine cinema, especially now that we are celebrating its hundred years. FDCP takes pride that our films consistently make a mark in world cinema, especially in the prestigious Tokyo International Film Festival,” said FDPC Chairperson and CEO Mary Liza Diño.

Filipino Films at Tokyo International Film Festival

October 28 to November 5, 2019

“Mañanita"

Director: Paul Soriano
Section: Competitive
Cast: Bela Padilla, Ronnie Lazaro

Synopsis: Bearing a facial bruise, the heroine is a shooter who served in the military. But after losing her job, she spends her nights getting drunk in a bar – until a phone call changes everything. This superb film turns a series of unassuming shots into an emotional drama.

“Motel Acacia”
Director: Bradley Liew
Section: Asian Future
Cast: JC Santos, Jan Bijvoet, Nicholas Saputra

Synopsis: Malaysia-born, Philippines-based Bradley Liew's second feature is a horror film with a multi-national crew and cast. A man confronts a demon haunting a motel he has taken over from his father.



“Mindanao”
Director: Brillante Ma Mendoza
Section: World Focus Powered by Aniplex Inc.
Cast: Judy Ann Santos, Allen Dizon, Yuna Tangog

Synopsis: Saima's story is merged with the epic tale of the warrior-brothers Raja Sulayman and Indarapatra battling against two fire-breathing sea serpents. The heroes' conquests and tragedy mirror Saima's harrowing reality.



Food Lore Series - “Island of Dreams”
Director: Erik Matti
Section: World Focus Powered by Aniplex Inc.
Cast: Angeli Bayani, Yul Servo, Ina Feleo

Synopsis: We present two episodes from HBO Asia's eight-part food anthology series following "Folklore", executive produced by Eric Khoo. One is a sensual piece by Phan Đăng Di and the other is starring Angeli Bayani.



“The Entity” (“Kuwaresma”)
Director: Erik Matti
Section: The Japan Foundation Asia Center presents CROSSCUT ASIA ♯06: Fantastic Southeast Asia
Cast: Sharon Cuneta, John Arcilla, Kent Gonzales

Synopsis: A family is haunted by what appears to be the ghost of their youngest daughter.


“The Halt” (“Ang Hupa”)
Director: Lav Diaz
Section: The Japan Foundation Asia Center presents CROSSCUT ASIA ♯06: Fantastic Southeast Asia
Cast: Piolo Pascual, Joel Lamangan, Shaina Magdayao

Synopsis: Manilla, 2034. As a result of massive volcanic eruptions in the Celebes Sea in 2031, Southeast Asia is literally in the dark. Madmen control countries, communities, enclaves and new bubble cities



“Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”
Director: Antoinette Jadaone
Section: The Japan Foundation Asia Center presents CROSSCUT ASIA ♯06: Fantastic Southeast Asia
Cast: Lilia Cuntapay, Joel Saracho, Geraldine Villamil

Synopsis: The story follows Lilia Cuntapay through the days leading up to a fictionalized awards night where she is nominated as a Best Supporting Actress for the very first time.



“Untrue”
Director: Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo
Section: The Japan Foundation Asia Center presents CROSSCUT ASIA ♯06: Fantastic Southeast Asia
Cast: Cristine Reyes, Xian Lim

Synopsis: Two lonely Filipinos living in the country of Georgia find solace and companionship in each other, until the strange apparition of a woman begins to haunt their relationship.


The 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) runs from October 28 to November 5, 2019 in Tokyo, Japan.

Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Continues to Drive Excitement at LIGA2Kontrabida and Cosplay Mania 2019

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Recently, Mobile Legends Bang Bang launched Multimedia Princess Nadine Lustre as their latest brand ambassador. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) retains its prime position as a widely popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) mobile game with its recent events that amps up the fun and excitement for its fans. Because of the success of their street battle last year, MLBB hosted its second street battle event called Mobile Legends: Bang Bang LIGA2Kontrabida. MLBB LIGA brought together non-professional players and avid fans of the game together to compete for amazing prizes and the opportunity to be the best non-pro team in the country. This second installment continued the excitement of last year’s tournament, which saw hundreds of squads participating held at the SM North EDSA, and SM Mall of Asia.

For LIGA2Kontrabida, lucky audience members got to play Mobile Legends Bang Bang with Brand Ambassador Nadine Lustre, known in the MLBB universe as Lady Luster. The popular celebrity gamer who’s a self-professed MLBB fan thrilled fans and players alike by joining the street battle.

MLBB’s developer Shanghai Moontoon Technology was also one of the supporters of Cosplay Mania 2019, the annual cosplay-centered convention created and hosted by Philippine-based cosplay website and organization Cosplay.ph. The MLBB booth at the event featured a tantalizing lineup of activities that had convention visitors and cosplay enthusiasts riveted, such as a greenwall photo experience that enabled them to pose and keep the keep fun memories at the amazing event. Premium freebies were also up for grabs -- 200 exclusive comic skins from Soryu Maiden, Blazing Lancer, and Viper, to Spider Lily and Jeepney Racer. Super limited merchandise items including exclusive MLBB shirts, chest cards and Miya toys were also available for purchase only on convention days, making collectors super excited.

At Cosplay Mania’s Cosplay Fashion Show, cosplay enthusiasts and fans of Mobile Legends came as their favorite MLBB heroes. Making a splash were two gamers, Ghost Wrecker and Mr Vii Gaming, who shared more about the latest Montoon game – Mobile Legends Adventures. 25 lucky audience members also got a chance to play a classic match of Mobile Legends with the two influencers. The MVP of each round won 899Diamond Skins while the rest received 299Diamond Skins and the limited edition MLBB shirt.

Mobile Legends, which was recently confirmed as the first esports title to be included as a medal event at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, is widely popular in the region. It is among the most downloaded free mobile game apps and has gained a vast following among gamers. Tournaments have also been held across the region, including the annual Southeast Asia Cup.

Korea’s Billion-Dollar Travel Group Yanolja Doubles Down on ZEN Rooms to Create Future of Hospitality in Southeast Asia

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Yanolja, Korea’s billion dollar travel group, double down on ZEN Rooms one year after investing US$15M in 2018. Through this transaction, Yanolja is investing additional funds in the Company, purchasing stakes from early investors and announcing a wide strategic alliance between the two groups

ZEN joins forces with one of the most technologically innovative travel groups and its backers Booking Holdings to create the first full service budget & mid-range hospitality group in SEA

ZEN will heavily deploy technology to continue to improve Southeast Asia’s hospitality sector, enhance customer experience and lower hotels’ operating costs

ZEN has achieved market leading customer satisfaction ratings in its franchise business, quadrupled revenue in the past year and became in Q4 2018 the largest hotel chain in the Philippines

Singapore, October 16th 2019 -- ZEN Rooms (“ZEN”, “Company”), one of the leading economy and mid-range hotel franchises in Southeast Asia, today announced it had signed a definitive agreement with travel group Yanolja regarding additional investment, acquisition of early investors’ stakes and the signing of a wide strategic alliance. Yanolja is the leading travel group in South Korea, backed by Booking Holdings and GIC, among others. Yanolja was the lead strategic investor in the company’s US$15M funding round in 2018, with rights to invest further. Early investor Asia Internet Holdings (Joint Venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo Telecom) has agreed to exit its stake to Yanolja. RedBadge Pacific and SBI Korea remain investors, and Access Ventures join as co-investors.

The alliance of ZEN and Yanolja creates the leading economy & mid-range hospitality group in Southeast Asia. It combines ZEN’s top-rated budget hotel franchise business with Yanolja’s scale, hospitality technologies and the backing by the global leader in Online Travel, Booking Holdings (behind Booking.com, Agoda, Priceline.com, Kayak etc), thus granting ZEN unique competitive advantages in both hotel technology and sales distribution. The groups will work to heavily deploy automation technology to enhance customer experience, further reduce budget hotels’ operating costs and reinvent budget hospitality across Southeast Asia.

ZEN Rooms is today one of the largest hotel franchises in Southeast Asia, with 13,000 rooms under franchise. Since Yanolja’s investment in mid 2018, ZEN has grown revenues 400% and has become in Q2 2019 the largest hotel chain in fast-emerging Philippines, with 5,500 rooms under franchise.

Southeast Asia is today the world’s fastest growing travel market, fueled by exponential domestic and regional demand of young travelers and millennials (e.g. the number of Chinese visitors has quadrupled in the past decade[1]). Yet, the value-for-money proposition of its budget hotel sector has historically been defective, plagued by several issues: fragmentation, poor hygiene & safety standards, lack of training and low technology use.

ZEN was founded in 2015 to improve the state of budget hospitality and bring much needed operational and technological efficiency to the estimated 2 million independent economy rooms in the region. Thousands of hotel owners have since joined ZEN’s franchises to improve their revenue, optimize their cost base and increase the long-term value of their property. These efficiency gains ultimately benefit travelers who can enjoy safer and better value-for-money stays.

With a deep emphasis on customer satisfaction, ZEN franchisees have enjoyed the best average guest ratings on Booking.com for two years in a row.

Nathan Boublil, co-founder & CEO of ZEN, comments: “We started ZEN exactly 4 years ago to make budget accommodation in Southeast Asia more affordable and safer. We have proudly built ZEN into the top-rated budget hotel franchise in the region and were honored to be Yanolja’s 1st international investment. With this strategic alliance, we are joining forces with one of the most technologically innovative travel groups and its unique backers Booking Holdings to create the first full service budget & mid-range hospitality group in SEA, able to deploy world-class technology infrastructure in IoT R&D, automation, hardware and software to all hotels in Southeast Asia. This alliance will greatly benefit our ability to serve our hotel clients and ultimately the travelers of the entire region”.

Jongyoon Kim, CEO of Online Business at Yanolja, adds: “Since first investing in ZEN, we have shared the same vision of operational excellence and customer centricity to radically improve the SE Asian hospitality market. In the last 12 months, the ZEN team has taken major steps to fulfill this vision and has grown exponentially while displaying top inventory quality. With this exciting agreement, Yanolja plans to fully support ZEN to solidify its status as the market leading full-stack hospitality company in the region".