Fresh from winning the Golden Lion — the top prize at the recently concluded Venice International Film Festival — Lav Diaz's Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) is screening at this week's Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, about a woman released from prison 30 years after being framed and wrongly convicted, runs for four hours and was shot in black and white. After its premiere in Venice, Diaz and his cast — led by Charo Santos-Concio and John Lloyd Cruz — received a standing ovation. The film marked 60-year-old Santos-Concio’s return to the big screen after a 20-year break.
Arriving at the Toronto airport on Monday for the film’s North American premiere, Santos-Concio was met by a crowd of Filipino fans. Several of them rushed to hug the actress and handed her bouquets of flowers.
“I’m so proud,” Santos-Concio told ABS-CBN News. “I’m very happy for Lav Diaz — he really deserves this. When we were planning the film back in March, we told each other we were just going to have fun. This really is a most unforgettable moment.”
The Woman Who Left was the only Asian film among the 20 films in the Venice festival's main competition. It beat out star-studded features including Damien Chapelle's La La Land (starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone), Derek Cianfrance's The Light Between Oceans (Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander) and Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals (Jake Gyllenhaal, Amy Adams), which won the runner-up Jury Prize.
Asked why she chose to work with an art house filmmaker for her cinematic comeback, Santos-Concio says: “Everyone was expecting me to do a mainstream movie. I thought, why not do a small movie? I wanted to do something different.”
This week a spokesperson for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said in a statement: “This triumph of Lav Diaz is the latest addition to the Philippines’s biggest ever haul of awards in this year’s A-list film festivals. Berlinale, Cannes and now Venice. The lustre of the world-class Filipino talent has continuously shone.”
Earlier this year, Diaz took home the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival for his eight-hour historical epic Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery), while Jaclyn Jose won the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Brilliante Mendoza's gritty urban drama Ma' Rosa.
Heneral Luna earns 11 Luna nominations
The historical biopic Heneral Luna leads a slate of nominees at this year's Film Academy of the Philippines Luna Awards. Based on the real-life story of General Antonio Luna, who led a revolutionary army during the Philippine-American War in 1899, the film earned 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director for Jerrold Tarog and Best Actor for lead star John Arcilla.
Apocalypse Child, a fictional story about a man suspected to be the illegitimate son of Hollywood director Francis Ford Coppola, was awarded nine nominations, including Best Director for Mario Cornejo.
Notably, four of the nine nominees for Best Picture are romantic dramas — The Breakup Playlist, Crazy Beautiful You, The Love Affair and That Thing Called Tadhana (Destiny) — a first in the awards show's 34-year history.
In the acting categories, veteran actor Arcilla is competing against younger talents like John Lloyd Cruz (Honor Thy Father), Sid Lucero (Apocalypse Child) and Dennis Trillo (Felix Manalo). The two female leads of The Love Affair, Bea Alonzo and Dawn Zulueta, were both nominated for Best Actress; they are competing against Angelica Panganiban (That Thing Called Tadhana), Merryl Soriano (Honor Thy Father) and Gwen Zamora (Apocalypse Child). The Luna Awards ceremony will be held on September 18.
Sarah Geronimo leads Star Awards nominees
This week the Star Awards for Music, another esteemed award-giving body in the Philippines, also revealed their list of nominees for the year.
Actress, singer and presenter Sarah Geronimo is favoured to win Best Album for her record The Great Unknown. The 28-year-old was nominated for six other awards, including Best Song (Tala), Best Pop Album (The Great Unknown), Concert of the Year (From the Top) and Female Performer of the Year.
Darren Espanto, a 15-year-old singing wunderkind who rose to fame after appearing on The Voice Kids Philippines in 2014, received nine nods, including Best Album for Be With You.
Another newcomer, Bailey May, 14, received an unexpected nomination for Song of the Year for his debut track Gusto Kita (I Like You).
The other contenders for Best Album are Jolina Magdangal (Back to Love), Bamboo (Bless This Mess), Marion (Marion), Alden Richards (Wish I May) and Willie Revillame (Nando'n Ako).
artslife@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
MORE ON CORONAVIRUS & THE ECONOMY
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Autumn international scores
Saturday, November 24
Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.9-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E620hp%20from%205%2C750-7%2C500rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E760Nm%20from%203%2C000-5%2C750rpm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEight-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1.05%20million%20(%24286%2C000)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Section 375
Cast: Akshaye Khanna, Richa Chadha, Meera Chopra & Rahul Bhat
Director: Ajay Bahl
Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak & SCIPL
Rating: 3.5/5
What are the GCSE grade equivalents?
- Grade 9 = above an A*
- Grade 8 = between grades A* and A
- Grade 7 = grade A
- Grade 6 = just above a grade B
- Grade 5 = between grades B and C
- Grade 4 = grade C
- Grade 3 = between grades D and E
- Grade 2 = between grades E and F
- Grade 1 = between grades F and G
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Results
5.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Spirit Of Light, Clement Lecoeuvre (jockey), Erwan Charpy (trainer)
6.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner Bright Start, Pat Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
6.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 2,000m
Winner Twelfthofneverland, Nathan Crosse, Satish Seemar
7.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner Imperial Empire, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
7.50pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m
Winner Record Man, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (D) 1,600m
Winner Celtic Prince, Fabrice Veron, Rashed Bouresly
Company%20profile
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Vikram%20Vedha
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20Profile
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now