Instituto Cervantes shows the diversity of Spanish-speaking cinema with a series of documentaries

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


This May, to highlight the rich diversity of viewpoints and narratives, Instituto Cervantes de Manila is presenting the online film cycle “Zonazine”, a showcase of Spanish and Latin American documentaries. The films will be shown through the Instituto Cervantes channel on the Vimeo platform (vimeo.com/institutocervantes) and will be freely accessible for 48 hours from their start date and time.

The series, which comprises of four films, will kick off on May 8, Saturday, with the online screening of El cuarto reino (The Fourth Kingdom), available for 48 hours through the folllowing link: https://vimeo.com/536445310. Directed by Adán Aliaga and Àlex Lora in 2019, this documentary has received several awards worldwide –-the 2020 Gaudí Award for Best Documentary and the Grand Jury Award at the 2019 Atlanta Film Festival, among them. It portrays the daily life of a can collection and recycling center in a New York neighborhood. Through René, an illegal worker from Mexico, and the relationships he establishes with his peers, the film explores the lie of the "American dream." In the face of disappointment, the escape is usually alcohol, but René also discovers beauty and art in the world around him.

The film cycle will continue on May 15 with the second documentary of the series, Para la guerra (Francisco Marise, 2018). In this war film there are no gun shots, but there is a wound: that of the lonely and tenacious Cuban ex-combatant, Mandarria, who is looking for the comrades who survived in his last mission 30 years ago, in the Nicaragua of the Sandinista revolution, in a quest to give meaning to his life. The film will be available only on May 15 & 16 through this link: https://vimeo.com/536463619

On May 22 & 23, enjoy the weekend watching Baracoa (2019) by Argentinean filmmaker Pablo Briones. This documentary portrays the daily life of two children on the outskirts of Havana, offering us their superb and natural performances with an exceptional touch and formal beauty and a humor that provokes admiration and smiles from each of its viewers. The film, which bagged the Audience Award in the 2019 Malaga Film Festival, will be available only on May 22 & 23 through this link: https://vimeo.com/536453084

Finally, the series will close on May 29 & 30 with the online screening of the Mexican documentary Una corriente salvaje (Nuria Ibáñez, 2018). With a self-contained approach, Nuria Ibáñez depicts an exceptional portrait of the human condition in this her third feature film in which she presents us with a story of friendship and distrust between two fishermen who live isolated between the desert and the sea, in a nameless and apparently unpopulated place on the Mexican Pacific coast. Catch the movie at this link: https://vimeo.com/536452168

All the documentaries, presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Malaga Film Festival and the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will be in Spanish with English subtitles. Admission is free. For further information on this film series, please check out Instituto Cervantes’ website (https://cultura.cervantes.es/manila/en/zonazine-documental-en-español/142806) or its Facebook site (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila).


For further information about the cultural program of Instituto Cervantes please visit Instituto Cervantes’ website (http://manila.cervantes.es), or Instituto Cervantes Facebook page www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.

TikTok Launches Media Solutions in the Philippines to Help Local Companies Grow their Business

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

TikTok For Business levels the playing field and empowers businesses of all sizes to reach their ideal customers.



TikTok, the leading short-form video platform for creating, sharing, and discovering short-form video content, is now open to advertisers of all sizes in the Philippines. To complement TikTok's rapid user adoption in the country, local SME advertisers will now be able to join their enterprise counterparts in reaching their audience on the app through TikTok's authorised agencies and partners in the market.

TikTok has been the #1 downloaded app in Southeast Asia since February 2020 (Source: App Annie, February 2021), creating a large user base, highly engaged community, and diverse content and audiences. The app has experienced a tremendous growth in users in SEA, with 2 out of every 5 users in the Philippines being parents, and 1 out of every 2 users being purchase decision makers (Source: Global Web Index). Users have also driven rapid growth across a variety of content topics, the fastest growing being finance and money, and education.



Through TikTok For Business, advertisers in the Philippines can now reach and engage with these diverse audiences to drive their business success. Advertisers will now have access to all of TikTok's present and future marketing solutions designed for brands. TikTok aims to give marketers the tools they need to tap into unique opportunities that can only be found on the app.



Through TikTok Ads Manager, TikTok For Business empowers small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) to be discovered and connect with the community of users on the app, build their brands, and achieve their business goals. These tools are designed to support advertisers through each step of the campaign creation process. Marketers can now make the most out of the creativity of the TikTok community, reach new audiences, and optimize their marketing campaigns, all within an easy-to-use platform.



While the launch of TikTok Ads Manager is designed to empower small and medium enterprises, TikTok will continue to strengthen existing relationships with enterprise customers across CPG, Food & Beverage, BFSI, Telco, eCommerce, Pharma and Healthcare in the Philippines. Now, SMEs will also be able to enhance their advertising campaigns on the app through TikTok Ads Manager.



Grow business with TikTok Ads Manager

With TikTok Ads Manager, small and mid-size businesses will get to reach potential customers, and share their online journey in a fun and creative way. A business can advertise by creating and posting video ads with a flexible budget, including repurposing their existing creative assets to easily run ad campaigns on TikTok. Advertisers can also track the progress and success of every campaign using TikTok's vast array of measurement and analytics tools, including third-party mobile measurement partners for app developers, and TikTok's own pixel for website tracking. This helps businesses make sure that they are running effective and efficient campaigns on the platform.



A variety of creative tools are also available for advertisers to use on TikTok Ads Manager. These are:

Quick Optimisation - Adds TikTok style visual effects or opening frames to your video with a single click.

Smart Video - Leverages innovative technology to analyze uploaded videos and images, automatically selecting clips and music to create beautifully edited videos.

Smart Video Soundtrack - Incorporates music, which is a vital part of every TikTok video ad. Select from up to 4,000+ copyright free sounds

Video Templates - Turns image assets into TikTok ready videos with over 60 customizable video templates for various aspect ratios

TikTok Video Editor - Edits video creatives down to individual frames, add transitions, and precisely place elements within a video with TikTok’s free web-based video editor



TikTok's Lead Generation, the first-party solution that helps businesses reach prospects in order to convert them into potential customers with ease, is also available to businesses in the Philippines. With Lead Generation, businesses can share details of their products and services that are related, appealing, and interesting to their customers with a few simple taps.



Digital solutions for boosting business growth

2​020 was a challenging year for businesses all over the Philippines, with a crippling months-long lockdown as one of its greatest hurdles. According to the 2020 Asia Pacific Small and Medium Business Digital Maturity study conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC), 70.6% of micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country were forced to temporarily cease operations due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The same survey also shows that 58.8% of businesses reported zero income, while 28% had revenues drop by over 30%.



As they recuperate over the coming months, investing on digital transformation could actually help companies, particularly SMEs, to meet their business goals. It has been found that digitally mature SMEs are generally more productive, and are able to report higher revenues, versus those that are slow to adapt to digitalization. In the present scenario, digital tools have also become necessary and effective means for businesses to reach consumers. These are some of the primary reasons for the development of TikTok Ads Manager, at a time when consumers are found to opt for online transactions and interactions in light of the ongoing pandemic.



The global agency, We Are Social, reports in its Digital 2021 study that Filipinos spend an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes each day on social media, a 22-minute increase from the country's Digital 2020 average. The Philippines also led the world in social media use in 2019 and 2020. Now, through TikTok Ads Manager, SMEs gain access to this large, highly engaged local community that exists online.



"We want to give brands and businesses the ability to reach millions of potential customers online in a unique way, with every single short-form video they share on TikTok. Through the platform's easy to use advertising solutions, we hope to help businesses find their authentic voice, and enable them to maximize their creative potential in order to grow and thrive, while also being able to save on advertising expenses," said Esme Lean, Head of Small and Medium Businesses, Southeast Asia - TikTok.



Start advertising in 3 easy steps

Businesses that are interested to start advertising on TikTok may do so by following 3 simple steps:

1. To sign up for a TikTok Ads Manager account, please visit https://ads.tiktok.com/i18n/signup/

2. You can start advertising by creating a campaign together with your video assets or design an eye-catching ad or videos using TikTok Ads Manager's creative tools.

3. Once you set your targeting, budget and creative, submit your ad for review and go live.



To learn more about TikTok Ads Manager, please visit our Help Center: https://ads.tiktok.com/help/?refer=from_advertising_platform.



Download TikTok on your iOS and Android devices today.

Candidates Face Toughest Physical Task Yet on Episode 8 of ‘The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition’

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Episode 8 of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” airs tonight on AXN, and the competition comes down to the wire. With only eight candidates remaining, the drama turns fierce as alliances take shape and conflicts begin to heat up.

[Ep 8 Teaser: https://youtu.be/gaksEVHXXR8]

This week, candidates are tested by mixed martial arts legend and ONE Championship Vice President, Rich “Ace” Franklin in arguably the toughest physical task of the season so far: survive a simulated open water helicopter crash. Needless to say, some candidates were left gasping for air.

In the business challenge, candidates face a sales challenge for the first time this season, offering upcycled products to B2B and B2C customers.

Catch the action on One Sports on Monday, May 10, at 9PM. For more information and How to Watch, check out the official site at https://www.onefc.com/theapprentice/

Meanwhile, watch Filipino MMA superstar and The Apprentice judge Brandon “The Truth” Vera as he takes on challenger, Indian wrestling champion Arjan “Singh” Bhullar in the main event for the ONE Heavyweight World Title. Entitled “ONE: DANGAL,” this tape-delayed event airs on Saturday, 15 May, and is designed to showcase the very best of Indian MMA.

About “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition”

“The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” invites 16 contestants handpicked from around the world to compete in a high-stakes game of business and physical challenges. The winner will receive a US$250,000 job offer to work directly under Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong for a year as his protege in Singapore.

Athletes appearing on the show include former ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren, ONE Heavyweight World Champion Brandon Vera, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee, ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion Demetrious Johnson, Indian Wrestling Champion Ritu Phogat, and ONE Women’s Strawweight World Champion Xiong Jing Nan, among others

“The Apprentice” is one of the biggest non-scripted reality television programs in history, judging the business skills of candidates who are competing for a job offer under a high-profile CEO. It has aired in more than 120 countries. The first season of “The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition” consists of 13 episodes.