International Silent Film Festival Manila 2021: The Silence Still Roars at 15!
From November 24 to December 03, 2021, the Japan Foundation, Manila, the Embassy of Italy with the Philippine Italian Association, the Instituto Cervantes, the British Council in the Philippines, the Goethe-Institut, the Embassy of France, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines will present the 15th edition of the International Silent Film Festival Manila. This year the festival will feature six classic silent films from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom, and nine short films especially produced by the FDCP to represent the Philippines, all accompanied by original musical scores from local bands and musicians.
This program will be screened online via the FDCP Channel https://fdcpchannel.ph/isffm2021
Opening at the Metropolitan Theater of Manila
To mark the 15th birthday of the festival an opening ceremony will be held on Wednesday, 24th of November, at 4:30 PM, at the newly renovated Manila Metropolitan Theater, Manila’s architectural Art Deco gem built in the midst of the Philippine “Silent era”. The invitational opening ceremony, hosted by the Japan Foundation, Manila will be followed, at 5:20 PM, by the screening of 雄呂血 Orochi (Serpent), a 1925 action film by Futagawa Buntarō that will be live scored by Munimuni band. This is cine-concert in pre-COVID style in-person but in keeping with the health restrictions in force.
With the exception of the opening day, the program of this 15th edition of the International Silent Film Festival Manila that includes screenings and international round table webinars will be entirely accessible online from the 25th of November to the 3rd of December. Loyal to the very essence of the festival, all silent films will be scored with original music exclusively composed and performed by local bands and musicians.
The entire Online Program in a glimpse
December 01 to 03 will be dedicated to the screening of the nine short films produced with the very first edition of FDCP’s Mit Out Sound International Silent Film Competition. Nine Filipino filmmakers worked with nine film composers to produce nine short silent films that represents the Philippines in this year's ISFFM. The shorts and their filmmakers are as follows: