PRESS RELEASE – 69 - 2019

(17 September 2019, Honolulu, Hawaii) – The Philippine Consulate General in Honolulu attended the reception of the Filipino Film Festival 2019 and screening of Liway at the Doris Duke Theater, Honolulu Museum of Art on 14 September 2019.

The Film Festival, which ran from 14-15 September, featured four (4) Filipino independent films, Motherland, Liway, Respeto and The Day after Valentines’.

Liway is a true story about a young mother who uses story-telling to protect her child from the reality of growing up in prison and the difficult life she endured. It received the Audience Award, Special Jury Commendation, and Special Jury Prize Award in the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2018. Ms. Glaiza de Castro, who plays the title role, was nominated as Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in the Famas Award, Best Actress in the Gawad Urian and Movie Actress of the Year in the Star Awards for Movies 2019.

Liway writer and director Mr. Kip Oebanda, was also present at the opening reception and post-screening Q&A. The screening, at the Doris Duke Theater also marks the film’s US premiere.

The Honolulu Film Festival 2019 was organized by the Filipino Association of University Women (FAUW) as part of the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Philippine cinema. Presidential Proclamation No. 622, signed by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on 8 November 2019, declared 12 September 2019 to 11 September 2020 as the Centennial Year of Philippine Cinema. This auspicious commemoration is in honor of Jose Nepomuceno’s “Dalagang Bukid,” the first Filipino-produced and directed feature film, which was released on 12 September 1919. (END)

Personnel and family of the Philippine Consulate General attend the Opening Reception of the Filipino Film Festival 2019 and screening of Liway on 14 September 2019

(Photo L-R) Consul Grace Bulos, Deputy Consul General Angelica Escalona, Writer and director Kip Oebanda and Vice Consul Andrea Christina Caymo