CCP and Cinemalaya 2015

Since I started working here at Pasay, close to where the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is located, I had long to watch Cinemalaya.  Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is an annual film fest aimed to develop and promote Philippine independent films.  It normally runs for a week, and for this year, Cinemalaya was shown last August 8 to 15.

The hubby and I were scheduled to watch this year’s Cinemalaya on a Thursday night.  When we arrived at CCP, there are four (4) independent films that are to be shown that night:  Requieme (which we initially wanted to watch but is already sold out), Diablo (I don’t want to watch something scary because I read the synopsis and it looks scary to me), Da Dog Show, and The Ferry (a Chinese entry). 

We watched The Ferry.  It was a story about an old man who owns a small ferry boat and uses it to transport people across Dasha River without accepting any payment for doing it.  He got sick and it was a question of who will continue his “job”.  Then his son came home to spend his leave at work to be with his father.  During that time, the old man was able to teach his son all the values he learnt in life while ferrying people across the river.

It was a very meaningful story.  The story is so deep and so silent, and so sad, and it something I needed to use my brain so much to digest all of it.  After watching the film, I realized, this kind of movie isn’t for me.  This kind of movie is really for the movie enthusiasts who can watch and understand and do movie reviews and relate.

That was the first time I was able to enter CCP.  I have allergies, and could easily smell something odd in the building.  The hubby told me, it was because the building is old.  It was, yes.  But looking at the structure outside and how the building stood magnificently in the area, you wouldn’t think it was.