Film and television stars Janine Gutierrez, Nadine Lustre, Janella Salvador and Liza Soberano have been nominated for Favourite Pinoy Star category of this year’s Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, which honours the year’s biggest entertainment acts. The category was launched for the first time at last year’s ceremony, with actress Maine Mendoza receiving the honour, beating fellow nominees Kathryn Bernardo, Enrique Gil and James Reid. The award will be decided by a public vote. Fans can support their favourites by casting their picks on www.kca.nick-asia.com as well as by using the hashtag #KCAPinoyStar on social media posts. John Cena will be hosting the awards ceremony, which is scheduled to be held on March 11 in Los Angeles, California.
Ramona Diaz’s Motherland to screen in Berlin Film Festival
After premiering last week at the Sundance Film Festival, the documentary feature Bayang Ina Mo (English title: Motherland) will now screen at the Berlin International Film Festival, which opens on February 9 and runs until February 19. It is the sole Filipino film selected for the festival's programme. Directed by Ramona S. Diaz, Bayang Ina Mo takes viewers inside the busiest maternity hospital in the Philippines. The documentary follows three expectant mothers over the course of their stay in a Manila public hospital where as many as 100 babies are born every day. "The story that unfolds in Bayang Ina Mo, while taking place in the Philippines, is universal. The wondrous mystery of motherhood is apparent in every frame of the film," Diaz said in an interview. "However, because this takes place in the Philippines, this film invites audiences to witness analogous situations from the starkly different perspective of a poor, densely populated, Catholic country." Motherland, which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award at Sundance for its "commanding vision", is scheduled for four screenings in Berlin on February 12, 14, 15 and 19. Diaz's previous acclaimed documentaries include 2003's Imelda, about the life of former First Lady Imelda Marcos, and 2012's Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey, about Arnel Pineda, who was plucked from YouTube to become the new singer of the American rock band Journey.
Filipino Cosplay sisters appear on Resident Evil film
Sisters Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao, who are popular in the Cosplay scene in the Philippines, appear as zombies in the sixth and final instalment of the Resident Evil film series. The two were part of a select group of hardcore Resident Evil fans from various countries who were invited by the film's directors to appear in cameo roles in the movie.
The Gosiengfiao sisters play zombies who attempt to attack and infect main character Alice (played by actress Milla Jovovich) and her team, who are the remaining survivors of a global apocalypse.
Alodia and Ashley filmed their scenes in Cape Town, South Africa last year.
“Oh my gosh, me and my sis Ashley’s names are in the ending credits! So honoured to be somehow part of this movie,” Alodia posted on social media last week, announcing that they were holding a special screening of the film in a Manila cinema.
Earlier this week, Jovovich posted a photo of herself with the Gosiengfiao sisters on her official Facebook page along with the caption: “Shoutout and mabuhay to my Resident Evil zombies from the Philippines, Alodia and Ashley! Thank you for joining the movie shoot in South Africa — we had fun, right?”
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is out now in cinemas across the UAE.
Filipino films featured in Hong Kong
Five Filipino films are screening at the weeklong Spotlight: Philippine Cinema 2017 event, held at the Asia Society Centre in Hong Kong until February 14.
The programme is headlined by Baby Ruth Villarama's Sunday Beauty Queen, a poignant documentary following a group of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong as they take part in a beauty pageant. The film won the Best Picture award at the recent Metro Manila Film Festival.
The four other films featured in the Spotlight event are Entre Medio del Fin (In the Middle of An End) by Ryanne Murcia, Sakaling Hindi Makarating (In Case They Don't Arrive) by Ice Idanan, Imbisibol (Invisible) by Lawrence Fajardo and Curiosity, Adventure and Love by Sunshine Lichauco de Leon and Suzanne Richiardone.
The weeklong festival of Filipino films is organised by the Asian Society along with the Film Development Council of the Philippines and The Filipino Channel.
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