Auraeus Solito's 'Busong' is going to Cannes

A Pinoy film entitled Busong, directed by Auraeus Solito was chosen to be among the 21 feature films that will be shown during the Cannes' Directors Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival which will be held on May 11 to 22, 2011, in the resort town of Cannes, the south of France.

Festival director Frederic Boyer had this to say about the selection of the film:
"I am thinking about a film we found from Southern Philippines... that transcends the border between documentary and fiction. The film deals with animism and is very close to nature. It has been shot without any apparent wish to be selected in Cannes or to be picked by a co-producer."

Auraeus Solito directed the successful indie film "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros" (The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros) which was nominated for the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival in 2006. Solito says that "Busong" is part of a trilogy that revolves around Palawan. It was inspired by stories that Solito’s mother told him about her native Palawan when he was a child. In an interview, he explained that “Busong” is the indigenous Palawanon concept of fate or instant karma. “What you do to nature, you do to yourself,” he said. “Busong” is set in present Palawan while the other two planned films will tackle the picturesque province’s past, “Delubyo (Deluge),” and future, “Sumbang (Origin).” “Busong” itself is composed of three segments: “Forest,” “Sea” and “Mountain.”

He recounted how “Busong,” which features a cameo by Australian actor Chris Haywood, got considered for Directors’ Fortnight. “I attended the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum where the Cannes programmers took a peek of my latest work,” Solito began. “Some of them said that they haven’t seen anything like it before. Then Jeremy, who often goes to Manila to look for potential Filipino film entries, and Frederic Boyer saw the footage. They told me to submit a DVD.”
“I only found out later that Frederic is the artistic director of the Directors’ Fortnight!” Solito revealed. “He emailed me and said, ‘I am so honored to have your unique and wonderful film. Everybody in the selection committee loves your ‘Busong.’ After we saw it, we sent the invitation to you 10 minutes afterward. We feel good and happy with it and we will celebrate ‘Busong’ very soon.’”

Solito is grateful to Cinemalaya for providing “the seed money to make this film possible.” He said that “…Maximo,” which won three awards in the Berlinale, and “Philippine Science” were also made possible by Cinemalaya. “I’m especially thankful to Nes Jardin, Laurice Guillen and Robbie Tan who have been supportive of my art all these years,” he added.

Ever proud of his tribal roots and Filipino heritage, Solito announced that when he walks on the Cannes red carpet, he will be “wearing a barong with piña cloth woven by my tribe. We are going all out Filipiniana.” Solito’s barong will be made by designer Oliver Tolentino, himself an acclaimed proponent of Philippine fabrics.

The last time Filipino Pride ran extremely high on Cannes was suring the 2009 Cannes Film Festival when Brillante Mendoza was honored as Best Director for his film "Kinatay". Unfortunately, that news was horribly been overshadowed here in the Philippines by the Katrina Halili Sex Scandal issue which haunted local news during that season (read the report on Mendoza's Cannes Victory here and my reflections on this topic here). Hopefully, this time we give attention this time to things that do indeed glorify the Filipino Film Industry.

2009 Filipino Movie News of the Year: Mendoza wins Cannes Best Director

2010 is coming, and as we look back to the events of 2009, there were many things that defined the year. Even though it is not as big as other movie sites, this little website of mine has dedicated itself to movie news, no gossip news, in here, we do not care which actor or actress as a crush on, or is sleeping with who. I have always believed that SHOWBIZ GOSSIP is one other factor that destroys Philippine Cinema.

As we look back on 2009, there is only one major movie news to me that should be spotlighted. This one bit of Movie News is what I choose as my (for a lack of a better, less cornier term) PINOY MOVIE NEWS of the YEAR. And right after this news bit, is my re-published commentary with minor additions.

[posted June 13, 2009]
Brilliante Mendoza was acclaimed best director for his film Kinatay at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in Paris, France, (last May 25). This was the second consecutive year that he fielded an entry, his entry last year to the filmfest’s main competition was "Serbis". Mendoza won over big name directors like Quentin Tarantino (for "Inglourious Basterds"), Pedro Almodovar ("Los Abrazos Rotos"), Ang Lee ("Taking Woodstock"), Jane Campion ("Bright Star") and Lars von Trier ("AntiChrist").

Three other Filipino films were entries in this year’s Cannes Filmfest. These are:

–Independencia by Raya Martin for the Section Un Certain Regard.
–Manila by Raya Martin and Adolfo Alix Jr.
–Sabungero by Fil-Am Janice Perez in the short film corner.

In 2007, Mendoza entered "Foster Child" in the Directors’ Fortnight. In 2000, a film by Raymond Red, "Anino", won the Palme d’Or for Short Film.

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MAY 24, 2009 : Filipino wins Cannes FilmFest BEST DIRECTOR
by Reymundo Salao

what's so sad is that while this news was up, the entire country was so engrossed over, and its media stubbornly focused upon the idiotic Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho Scandal, which is clearly an insignificant topic overblown by the mainstream media's craving for sensationalism.
While the mainstream media and the Filipino people has been busy feeding on something which is actually quite normal in the little world of immoral spoiled-brat celebrities, a Filipino has already won something that is supposed to bring great honor to the nation... but not many were able to pay attention, not many chose to pay attention, and not many were interested in this news. Even I, admittedly, was late on the news. If you ask my opinion, there is many to blame. ABS-CBN, GMA, even the Philippine Entertainment Portal, which is supposedly a movie news site, did not give much attention to the Cannes victory news. The mainstream media are the ones who knows what news to give to the public, and apparently, what the mainstream media is interested in seems to be not on the task of paying attention to what should be relevant, instead they focus on the things that continue to corrupt Filipino culture. And believe me, that fucking scandal corrupts our culture. Blame also the government officials who waste their time and a good amount of taxpayer's money over it.

Believe me when I say that I kick myself in the ass for being so late with this news. I was quick to post the newest Hollywood news, but with the biggest Filipino news for Philippine Cinema for all history... I was late??? Shameful. And I call myself as somebody who is a Film Junkie... shame on me... But what the fuck... Local media was just crazy over the Kho-Halili Scandal while the Movie Websites were all just blabbering about the positive onslaught of Summer movies. At least, as I mentioned above, at least, I have somebody to blame, coz hey, unlike THEM, I do not have MuCH resources like reporters, etc to bring you movie news that matter.

The Mainstream Industry has full control of the Entertainment Industry as far as the country is concerned. They can influence the masses to love good quality or bad quality. In addition, they also have the power to exclude something from having an existence in the eyes of the masses. Who's destroying the reputation of Philippine Cinema? It's the giants; the mainstream media companies. Not only do they kill art; they kill the chance for art to exist and be appreciated.