Masla A Papanok by Gutierrez Mangansakan II will open the Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao 2019 which will take place from October 25th – 29th in Davao City, Philippines.

About the Festival:
Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival Davao is an annual showcase of films that explores the myriad meanings of the “ngilngig”—a common Bisaya expression for something that is “kuyaw” (fantastic) or for something that elicits horror or alluding to the macabre.
From what used to be a horror-genre festival, Ngilngig Festival has expanded its scope to become the first fantastic film festival of its kind in Southeast Asia, extending the reach to other neighboring countries’ “ngilngig” and fantastic films that are significant with our own ways of telling stories to promote and preserve our myths, traditions, history and culture into cinematic form.

Opening Ceremony:
The Opening Ceremony will take place at the Cinematheque Center Davao at 5:00 pm. At 6:00 pm the screening of Masla A Papanok will take place. Along the feature film there will be a short film, Tokwifi by Carla Pulido Ocampo who recently won the Special Jury Prize at the QCinema International Film Festival.

Opening Feature Film:

Masla A Papanok by Gutierrez Mangansakan II – Philippines | 2018 – 85 minutes

A princess seeks refuge in a Convent to escape an arranged marriage. A young prince tries to make sense of his station. A giant bird mysteriously appears after centuries of absence. Masla A Papanok (Bird of History) mixes history, myth, memory and magic to reimagine the Spanish colonial period in Mindanao like never before.

Trailer:

Opening Short Film:

Tokwifi by Carla Pulido Ocampo – Philippines | 2019 – 20 minutes

As Limmayug carries firewood back to his home village, something falls from the sky: a 1950s television, with a hysterical showbiz star trapped inside it. She is Laura Blancaflor. The frightened man saves the television — nay, saves Laura — from the flames of the impact. Worlds apart in their language and methods, the two try their best to engage each other. But for the sensibilities of Limmayug, a citizen of an off-the-grid mountain town, Laura’s TV talk seems too contrived — and alas, during commercial breaks, uncontrollably tactless, too.

Trailer:

For more information about the programme please visit the festival’s official website: HERE