By NEIL RAMOS
Several Filipino films are to be featured at this year’s New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), set from June 29 to July 15.
Among these films are Anne Curtis’ “Buy Bust” and Erich Gonzales’ “We Will Not Die Tonight.”
“Buy Bust,” which is about a cop who finds herself trapped inside a slum area in Manila following a botched buy-bust operation, is directed by Erik Matti for Reality Entertainment and Viva Films.
It also stars MMA star Brandon Vera, Nonie Buencamino, and Victor Neri.
Meanwhile, “We Will Not Die Tonight” sees Gonzales reuniting with film director Richard Somes whom she worked with on “Mariposa in the Cage of Night.”
The film is about an underappreciated stuntwoman who takes on one last job with her former gang, only to be trapped in a hellish underworld.
Apart from “Buy Bust,” and “We Will Not Die Tonight,” Mikhail Red’s “Neomanila,” and Treb Monteras’ “Respeto,” will also be screened at the festival along with Curtis’ “Sid & Aya.”
“Neomanila” is about a hitwoman training a young orphan to become a professional assassin.
It won best cinematography for Mycko David at the 41st Gawad Urian.
“Respeto,” which is about a young kid aiming to find “respect” in a chaotic world of drugs and politics, won several awards at the 41st Gawad Urian including the best actor plum for its star, rapper Abra.
It is competing at the NYAFF’s re-launched main competition, now renamed the Tiger Uncaged Award for Best Feature Film against Shiraishi Kazuya’s “Blood of Wolves,” Nam Ron’s “Crossroads: One Two Jaga,” Naito Eisuke’s “Liverleaf,” Dong Yue’s “The Looming Storm,” Sunny Chan’s “Men on the Dragon,” and Jeon Go-woon’s “Microhabitat.”
“Sid & Aya,” on the other hand, was among top-earners at the local box-office this year, reportedly earning a whooping R144 million in three weeks.
Touted as an anti-love story, it tells the story of a stockbroker who copes with his insomnia by hiring a mysterious woman to spend time with him.
