World Premieres Film Festival 2015: 7 Main Competition Films | June 29-July 7, 2015

The World Premieres Film Festival-Philippines 2015 recently held a press conference to announce the festival’s Main Competition films at the Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City.

Seven (7) films from all over the globe will have their international premiere in the Philippines, the host country, as organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, in partnership with SM Cinemas and Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Premiere screenings will be held on June 25-27, 2015 in SM Mall of Asia (free to the public), while the regular screening schedule of the said films, along with the various sections of the Festival, will be from June 29 to July 7 (regular cinema ticket rates apply).

All films in competition and exhibition are shown in five (5) SM Cinemas only: SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM Southmall, SM Manila, and SM North Edsa.

Check out:

Full line-up of WPFF 2015 Films

Full schedule of WPFF 2015 Films

7 WPFF Main Competition films:   

 Sonata For Cello 

(Sonata Per A Violoncel)

directed by Anna Bofarull
Running time: 97 mins.

(Spain) 

The story focuses on Julia, an elegant and renowned cellist devoted to her music. After years of intermittent pain in different parts of her body, Julia is finally given the diagnosis: fibromyalgia, a chronic medical disorder that has no known cause or cure. She soon finds herself submerged in a personal state of hell, struggling against her own body.

Filosofi Kopi 

directed by Angga Sasongko

Running time: 117 mins.
(Indonesia)  

The story tells a soul-searching tale about making peace with the past through coffee. Ben and Jody are two friends and owners of ‘Filosofi Kopi’, a sophisticated coffee shop known for only serving the best coffee in Indonesia. When a businessman challenges them to make “the perfect cup”, Ben and Jody embark on an adventure that forces them to visit their troubled pasts.  It is a film that not only tells a captivating story, but one that will make us look at coffee with a whole new, passionate perspective.

The Territory

directed by Aleksandr Melnik

Running time: 137 mins.
(Russia) 

The story takes place in 1960, a moment of immense transition in the USSR.  Along the earth’s most northeastern shores of the Arctic Ocean in the centre of the vast tundra lies the ‘Territory.’  Legendary geologist Ilya Chinkov is utterly convinced that gold exists in the land and must convince and inspire his brigade.  As they battle against self and nature in search of gold, some continue, some fall. Individual survival and collective triumph do not always converge.

Son Of Mine

(Gluckauf)

directed by Remy van Heugten

Running time: 102 mins.
 (Netherlands) 

The picturesque Dutch province of Limburg is not what it seems. The story is a gripping social drama about the oppressive relationship between a father and a son, who as modern outlaws struggle to survive. The story is based on Remy's personal experiences, having grown up in this poor region of the mostly rich Netherlands.  Father and a son must struggle to survive in this place where the social and economical consequences of the closing of the coal mines, many years ago, are still very much felt.

The End of Love

directed by Li-Da Hsu

Running time: 89 mins.
(Taiwan) 

The story shows that love has infinite manifestations, but love itself, as many of us discover, can be finite.  In the film, four relationships slowly unravel: a couple involved in social movement activism; a middle-class couple coping with infertility; an old man found his sweetheart in the elderly home; and a young man try winning a woman who was his high school teacher.

Three Lies 

(Tres Mentiras)

directed by Ana Murugarren 

Running time: 98 mins.
(Spain)

Franco’s dictatorship in 1970s Spain was a silencing, violent one—especially for women. Under church and state, his conservative regime upheld the institution of marriage at the expense of young, single mothers. In the story, the clever and independent tattoo artist Violeta, who was sold as a baby during the Franco-era, challenges the remnants of the regime under which she was born as she searches for her mother and the truth.

Crimean

(Kirimli)

directed by Burak Cem Arliel

Running time: 103 mins.
(Turkey)

Adapted from Crimean Tartar novelist and poet Cengiz Dagci’s first novel “Horrible Years,” the story is set during the Second World War.  Sadik Turan fights with the Soviet Red Army against the German Nazis—reluctantly however, after having been oppressed as a Crimean Turk by Russian nationalism since childhood. Despite this, he emerges as a hero for his fellow Red Army soldiers, but then is taken prisoner by the Germans. When they offer to save his beloved Crimea from the Russians, Sadik must walk the tightrope as he dreams of a free Crimea.

Films in the Main Competition will vie for the following prestigious awards: Grand Festival Prize and the Grand Jury Prize, as well as awards for Best Performance by an Actor, Best Performance by an Actress, Best Artistic Contribution, Technical Grand Prize, and Best Ensemble Performance.

The Gala Premieres of all the said films will be of “free admission” on June 25-27 (1st come, 1st serve) at SM Mall of Asia, Cinema 6.  The schedule is as follows:

Thursday, June 25, 2015

5:30 PM -- The End of Love (Taiwan)

7:30 PM -- The Territory (Russia)

Friday, June 26, 2015

2:00 PM -- Son of Mine (Netherlands)

5:00 PM -- Filosofi Kopi (Indonesia)

7:30 PM – Crimean (Turkey)

Saturday, June 27, 2015

5:00 PM -- Three Lies (Spain)

7:30 PM -- Sonata for Cello (Spain)

The WPFF celebrates the power and magic of film by showcasing the works of critically acclaimed, upcoming film directors from across the globe. 

The WPFF warmly invites all filmmakers, cinema goers, film enthusiasts, and everybody else to watch these great bodies of work by distinguished international filmmakers to celebrate and amplify the global human narrative on screen.

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