Here’s the screening schedule for Saturday’s Filipino Freethinkers FilmFest. See you there! Bring your friends!
1:00 – 1:10 Opening: Challenge Religion
1:10 – 2:20 Fun for Heretics
2:20 – 3:10 Root of All Evil Part 1: The God Delusion
3:10 – 4:20 Imagine No Religion
4:20 – 5:10 Root of All Evil Part 2: The Virus of Faith
5:10 – 7:20 Letting Go of God
7:20 – 7:50 Filipino Freethinkers: Year One
7:50 – 8:00 Closing: Celebrate Reason
Thinker, writer, skeptic, spy.[Full text at The Entropy Blog]
A series of films about faith and belief will be screened at UP’s Cine Adarna on February 27… but these films will leave you with more questions than answers.The Filipino Freethinkers Film Festival is the first film fest in the Philippines intended to challenge your thinking about belief, faith, and reason.
The films include a bittersweet one-woman show by a former Saturday Night Live cast member, a documentary exploring the link between religion and terrorism, and a couple of short films originally screened at the American Atheist Film Festival.
“Most of us don’t question our faith or religion at all,” says Ryan Tani, president of the Filipino Freethinkers. “But when religion increasingly conflicts with reason in society, we need a public discussion of the merits of faith. Especially we Filipinos, who live under laws shaped by the Catholic Church whether we’re Catholic or not.
“Showing films that question that assumption, that faith is always a good thing… I think that’s a really important first step to get the debate going,” says Tani.
The films screened during the Filipino Freethinkers Film Festival are intended to reach out to both the religious and the irreligious, questioning long-cherished assumptions on both sides of the debate.
Letting Go of God, a one-woman show by Saturday Night Live alumna Julia Sweeney, is a funny yet touching tale of Sweeney’s conflict with the Catholic faith of her childhood. The story (with its surprising conclusion) is told in an upbeat monologue style that the New York Times called “searing and bracingly funny”.
Root of All Evil? is biologist Richard Dawkins’ look at how religious faith serves as a primary motivator for evil in today’s modern world. Throughout the two-part film, we see Dawkins taking on religious fanatics of all stripes, including disgraced pastor Ted Haggard, and building the case for humanity being better off without faith.
Fun for Heretics showcases bits of classic comedy, shocking songs and searing rants from all around the world, with clips from George Carlin, Monty Python, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Woody Allen, Roy Zimmerman, Marcus Brigstocke, Edward Current, and many more.
Imagine No Religion blends the funny and the serious to tackle the conflict between faith and reason. The film includes excerpts from the late Theo Van Gogh & Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s “Submission” and Lisa Seidenberg’s moving memorial to 9/11, “In the Name of God.”
The Filipino Freethinkers Film Festival is on for one day only, on February 27, at Cine Adarna from 1pm to 8pm. Admission is free. For more information on the Film Festival and Filipino Freethinkers, visit their site on the web at http://filipinofreethinkers.org.
Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=279619108129
Thinker, writer, skeptic, spy.Cine Europa 12 opens in Manila on September 11 at the Shang
Known as a patron of the arts and culture, premier lifestyle destination Shangri-la Plaza once again fulfill its commitment of bringing endless pleasures as it plays host to Cine Europa.
Now on it’s 12th year of offering powerful and touching European films to the Philippines, the popular film festival opens on September 10, 2009, with public screenings from September 11 to 20 at the Shang Cineplex.
Cine Europa 12 will be opened by Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, Mr. Alvaro Trejo, Deputy Head of Mission of Spain representing the Presidency of the European Union, Atty. Andy Bautista, Chairman and CEO of Shangri-La Plaza Corporation and Ms. Lala Fojas, Executive Vice-President and General Manager of Shangri-La Plaza Corporation.
Through a collaboration between the Goethe Institut in Manila and the EU Cultural Group and Shangri-La Plaza, the festival will also be featuring a panel discussion animated by German film experts Eberhard Junkersdorf, Dennis Gansel and Dr. Peter Zimmermann at the Shang Cineplex’s Premiere Theatre on September 11 from 10:30 to 11:30 am.
This year, eighteen European films ―from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom― were carefully handpicked to cater to the Filipino audiences. Opening the festival is Swedish film Grabeen I Graven Bredvid (The Guy in the Grave Next Door) by Kjell Sundvall, a contemporary romance between a farmer and a city girl.
Germany’s Dennis Gansel tackles the underpinnings of fascism via the energetic and gripping drama Die Welle (The Wave). Four teenaged boys lose their innocence during what is to be their last summer together in the Belgian film De Laatste Zomer (The Last Summer) by Joost Wynant. From France comes the Julie Lopes Curval-directed Toi Et Moi (You and Me), a story of two sisters striving to find true love.
Jan Sverak brings to the silver screen the tale of 3 lives caught in the middle of war via the Czech Republic’s Tmavomodry Svet (Dark Blue World). Life is not lived in fantasies and exotic dreams, in Danish director Ole Bomedal’s film Kaerlighed Pa Film (Just Another Love Story) wherein the truth catches up with everyone eventually. Finland’s Joulutarina (Christmas Story) by Juha Wuolijoki is the touching tale of how Santa came to be. Four young rascals wreak havoc in 1960s Berne, Switzerland in Michael Stenier’s Mein Name Ist Eugen (Rascals on the Road).
The U.K.’s Saul Dibb presents a compelling portrayal of England’s `It Girl’ in The Duchess. Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza offer a Spanish suspense-thriller in Rec. S Certy Nejsou Zerty (Give the Devil His Due) by Hynek Bocan which revolves around the friendship between a poor, brave young man and a nice devil. An old prince unwittingly influences the lives of local people in Romania’s Orient Express by Sergiu Nicolaescu. On the trail of a rare butterfly, the Zoo Rangers saves the rainforest from destruction in the Johan Nijenhuis-directed Zoop In Zuid Amerika (Zoo Rangers In South America) from The Netherlands.
Italy’s I Demoni Di San Pietroburgo (The Demons of St. Petersburg) by Giuliano Montaldo is the story of writer Fyodor Dostoevsky and his search for the terrorist group responsible for the assassination of the Imperial Family. From Austria comes Freigesprochen (Free to Leave) by Peter Payer about the short moments that can change lives forever. Bernd Sahling’s Die Blindganger (The Blind Flyers) follows the adventures of a group of blind musicians. E Pericoloso Sporgersi (Sundays On Leave) by Nae Caranfil is interestingly set in the late Ceausescu era of Romania. Love is like Santa, you have to believe in it in Joram Lunsen’s film Alles Is Liefde (Love is All) which shows that love indeed conquers all. Another tale about love, Hynek Bocan’s S Certy Nejsou Zerty (Give the Devil His Due) follows the story of Peter, a brave but poor young man who gets involved in a love triangle with two princesses.
Cine Europa 12 is presented by the European Union Member States’ Embassies and the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines. It is supported by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Rajah Travel Corporation, Yo Card and Click the City. Admission to the screenings is free on a first-come, first-served basis.
For film screening schedules and other inquiries, please contact 633.7851 or log on to www.shangrila- plaza.com.
Thinker, writer, skeptic, spy.
Thinker, writer, skeptic, spy. Geek. City girl at heart. Loves her friends. Likes to bake. Buys books she doesn't have time to read. Eats a lot. Drinks too much. Doesn't drink enough.
