It’s cliché, I know, but there’s something romantic about going to a night-time outdoor movie screening, watching a flick under the cover of stars. As an undergrad student, I went to every single one of my school’s Valentine under-the-stars shows, a foldable mat to place on the grass (and, in my last year, junk food to munch on as I third wheeled every single one of my friends on the anniversary of my first breakup. I love life) in tow.
This month, the Cultural Center of the Philippines will be hosting its own under-the-stars screening at its front lawn. A three-night event running from Dec. 13 to 15, Cinema Under the Stars will be screening Cinemalaya, Gawad Kalinga, and other family-friendly movies from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., including performances from PWU Indayog Gongs and Ephesus Theatron Group as well as a light show under Sinag: Festival of Radiance. Sinag is CCP’s nightly lantern lighting in collaboration with Toym de Leon Imao Jr. and parol-makers of Pampanga.
Some of the movies to be shown are Cinemalaya favorites “Babae sa Septic Tank” (2011), a satirical flick that parodies poverty porn filmmakers, “Ekstra” (2013), a drama-comedy about a soap opera extra that critiques the exploitation inherent in the studio system, and “Pan de Salawal” (2018), a sentimental urban fantasy drama featuring an intergenerational friendship between a pandesal baker and a street child with healing powers. Short films like the sweet drama-comedy “Asan si Lolo Mê?” (2013) will also be screened.
Admission to the outdoor event is free. You can check out CCP’s Facebook page to see the schedule. (Also, if you choose to go, I’d advise you to bring your own mat or tarp to sit on just in case.)
Still from Ekstra
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Writer: ZOFIYA ACOSTA
