Coming to Manila

Lelaki Komunis Terakhir is the opening film of Cine Veritas, a human-rights film festival at the University of the Philippines, next week. This will be my first trip to Manila and I am quite chuffed.

The photo you see is from a great film called Manila: In the Claws of Neon by the great director Lino Brocka.

The Philippines continues to make the most interesting films in South-East Asia. I wrote an article about some of them 4 years ago and since then newer names and films have cropped up. Perhaps my Manila trip will inspire a follow-up piece, who knows?

Coming to Noo Yawk

Lelaki Komunis Terakhir screens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City on 8 & 9 December. It is part of a programme called Asian Cinevisions which presents, erm, cinema from Asia.

At the risk of coming over all gushy, New York is my favourite city and the place where I first fooled around with the idea of making films. I took a course in NYU in the summer of 1995 and directed five 16mm shorts (I got a D for the first and an A for the last). In addition I managed to watch over 90 films not only at the NYU library but at places like Film Forum, the Angelika, the Anthology and, yes, MOMA.

I would never have gone there if I hadn't met and interviewed U-Wei Haji Saari in Malaysa two years before that in Kuala Lumpur. He had studied film in New York in the 1980s. His first feature film had just come out and he became the first person to make me realise that making films could be something I'd want to pursue.

I visited the city again this summer (the first time this century) to find that although much had changed (Times Square now seems like Disneyland), the old buzz was still there and the service staff as reassuringly rude as ever.

Coming to Nantes

Lelaki Komunis Terakhir screens at this year's Festival of 3 Continents in Nantes, France, which runs from 21-28 November. Now that you asked, the three titular continents are Asia, South America and Africa.

This is the second French screening, after the Marseille International Documentary Festival in July.

Coming to Amsterdam

Lelaki Komunis Terakhir will screen on 24 and 27 November as well as 3 December in the International Documentary Film Festival of Amsterdam. This is the largest documentary festival in Europe.

Of special relevance in this case is the fact that The Jan Vrijman Fund, which is administered by the festival, helped pay for the documentary to be made all those months ago. If you are in the area do drop by.