(SPOT.ph) November is already gearing up to be an exciting month for movie fans. Cinema One Originals is back to give audiences a dose of daring independent cinema that embraces new ways of storytelling.
The festival runs from November 13 to 21 at cinemas in Trinoma, Glorietta, Gateway, UP Cine Adarna, Cinema '76, and Cinematheque Centre Manila. An extended run at Power Plant Mall will happen from November 22 to 28.
We already gave a quick run-down of the new batch of indie films at the festival. This time, we're zeroing in on the roster of critically acclaimed foreign films that have already made the rounds at international awards circuits.
The Third Murder
Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda
Screening schedule: November 13 at 12:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 16 at 9:15 p.m. (Gateway); November 19 at 8 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 25 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
This suspenseful murder-mystery centers on a defense attorney who believes his new client—a self-confessed killer—has been framed. The film has been screened at various festivals, including Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival.
L'Amant Double
Directed by: François Ozon
Screening schedule: November 13 at 5:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 16 at 2:30 p.m. (Glorietta); November 20 at 5:15 p.m. (Gateway); and November 22 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
This romance-thriller revolves around Chloe, a fragile young woman who falls in love with her psychoanalyst, Paul. When she moves in with him, she learns that her new lover has been hiding secrets from her.
Let The Sunshine In
Directed by: Claire Denis
Screening schedule: November 13 at 2:20 p.m. (Trinoma); November 14 at 4:30 p.m. (Gateway); November 15 at 5:15 p.m. (Trinoma); and November 24 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
Based on Roland Barth's 1977 text, A Lover's Discourse: Fragments, this French drama stars Juliette Binoche as a Parisian artist and divorced mother in search for true love.
Sweet Country
Directed by: Warwick Thornton
Screening schedule: November 13 at 4:25 p.m. (Glorietta); November 17 at 4:45 p.m. (Trinoma); November 19 at 9:20 p.m. (Gateway); and November 24 at 7 p.m. (Power Plant)
Set in the Northern Territory frontier of 1920s Australia, this film follows an elderly Aboriginal farmhand shoots a white man in self-defense and subsequently goes on the run.
Newton
Directed by: Amit V. Masurkar
Screening schedule: November 13 at 7 p.m. (Gateway); November 16 at 12:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 17 at 9:45 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 20 at 4:30 p.m. (Glorietta)
This Indian black comedy stars Rajkummar Rao as Newton Kumar, a rookie government clerk at the center of the conflict-ridden jungles of Central India. This film was screened at various festivals, including Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival, and is India's official entry to the Oscars.
Good Time
Directed by: Ben and Josh Safdie
Screening schedule: November 13 at 9:30 p.m. (Gateway); November 14 at 12:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 16 at 7:20 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 26 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
Robert Pattinson continues to shine in the indie film circuit with this new heist movie. After a bank robbery attempt goes awry, Connie (Pattinson) finds himself navigating the city's dangerous criminal underworld to free his brother from jail.
On Body and Soul
Directed by: Ildikó Enyedi
Screening schedule: November 14 at 4:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 16 at 2:30 p.m. (Gateway); November 19 at 2:45 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 28 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
In this bizarre and brutal Hungarian film, two strangers working in a slaughterhouse discover that they've both been having the same dream every night. They mutually decide to make it come true. The film won the Golden Bear, FIPRESCI Prize, and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Berlinale, and is Hungary's entry to the Oscars.
A Fantastic Woman
Directed by: Sebastian Lelio
Screening schedule: November 14 at 8:50 p.m. (Gateway); November 19 at 10:20 p.m. (Glorietta); November 21 at 7:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 23 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
In this Chilean LGBTQ+ drama, a transgender singer faces harsh discrimination after her much older boyfriend passes away. The film is Chile's entry to the upcoming Oscars.
Before We Vanish
Directed by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Screening schedule: November 15 at 12:30 p.m. (Trinoma); November 17 at 9:30 p.m. (Gateway); November 19 at 12 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 27 at 12 p.m. (Power Plant)
Acclaimed Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa returns with a sci-fi drama that examines human nature. When three aliens arrive on Earth, they begin to possess human hosts and rob them of their "essence," leaving devastation in their wake.
Thelma
Directed by: Joachim Trier
Screening schedule: November 15 at 9 p.m. (Glorietta); November 16 at 4:50 p.m. (Trinoma); and November 22 at 7:10 p.m. (Power Plant)
When a college student begins to experience violent seizures, she discovers that the episodes are symptoms of dangerous supernatural abilities.
Zama
Directed by: Lucrecia Martel
Screening schedule: November 15 at 9:15 p.m. (Gateway); November 20 at 9:50 p.m. (Trinoma); November 21 at 7 p.m. (Glorietta); and November 23 at 6:50 p.m. (Power Plant)
Based on the 1956 novel by Antonio Di Benedetto, this film centers on Don Diego de Zama, a Spanish officer based in a remote South American colony, who longs for a better assignment from the Spanish empire. The critically acclaimed film has been compared to the work of Terrence Malick and Werner Herzog.
Call Me By Your Name
Directed by: Luca Gaudagnino
Screening schedule: November 18 at 9:45 p.m. (Trinoma); November 19 at 5:30 p.m. (Glorietta); November 20 at 10:15 p.m. (Gateway); and November 25 at 7 p.m. (Power Plant)
This emotionally devastating drama stars Timothee Chalamet as 17-year-old Elio, whose summer is turned upside down with the arrival of the handsome Oliver (Armie Hammer), who interns for the former's father.
BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Directed by: Robin Campillo
Screening schedule: November 18 at 4:30 p.m. (Glorietta); November 20 at 7 p.m. (Trinoma); and November 21 at 7 p.m. (Gateway)
In this award-winning Cannes Film Festival entry, a young gay man named Nathan joins an AIDS activist group in Paris during the '90s. There, he falls in love with Sean, who has a more radical approach to protests.