QCinema showcases Quezon City’s strengths on its 13th year

THE QCINEMA International Film Festival returns for a 13 year with new sections and expanded programs.

- 

With the theme “Film City,” the festival will run from Nov. 14 to 23 and will feature over 80 films across 14 sections which will be shown in Quezon City theaters.

QCinema will kick off this yearwith the film Couture by Alice Winocour. Starring Angelina Jolie, it follows an American filmmaker arriving in Paris for Fashion Week.

Many of the selections across the nine full-length programs and five shorts programs will reflect on the art of filmmaking itself. These include films about cinema, stories about storytellers, and the power of moving images to reshape how we see the world.

“Dito sa QC, ang gusto namin ay ilapit ang dekalidad na pelikula bilang isang art form sa taumbayan (Here in Quezon City, we want to bring the art of quality filmmaking closer to the people),” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said at a press conference on Oct. 21.

Tickets this year are uniformly priced at P250. While previous years had one or two venues in other cities, this year all the screenings will be in Quezon City: at the cinemas of Gateway, Robinsons Galleria, Eastwood, TriNoma, Fishermall, and Cloverleaf malls.

Ms. Belmonte explained that QCinema aims to democratize access with its year-round screenings of films from previous editions of the festival, held at public schools, universities, and barangays in the city.

“Cinema heightens our senses, holds up a mirror that reflects our humanity, and, most of all, reinforces our sense of compassion for people whose lives at first glance may seem different from our own,” she said.

ASIAN NEXT WAVE

QCinema’s main competition section, Asian Next Wave, will be showcasing nine directorial debuts by Asian filmmakers.

In the lineup are four entries making their Southeast Asian premiere: Family Matters by Taiwanese filmmaker Pan Ke-yin, which was the Best Feature Film winner at the New York Asian Film Festival;