Pete Lacaba honored with lifetime achievement award

The financial problems and the upcoming elections of the United States are hindering preparations for Dekada Cinemanila, but organizers are making sure that they will offer a grand event that is suited for their tenth anniversary celebration. For the 10th edition of the Cinemanila International Film Festival, Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz VI announced that they have chosen to confer this year's Lifetime Achievement Award to screenplay writer Jose "Pete" Lacaba Jr. In the October 11 press conference of Cinemanila held at Gateway Mall in Cubao, the renowned filmmaker told PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) the reasons for honoring Mr. Lacaba. "Nakakahiya nga, nauna pa ang India sa Pilipinas," he says candidly. "It's about time! Pete should be a National Artist for Cinema. Number one, lahat ng pelikula ni Lino Brocka na nag-compete sa Cannes, sino ang sumulat? Si Pete Lacaba." Last July, Mr. Lacaba received the Aruna Vasudev Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Osian's-Cinefan Festival of Arab and Asian Cinema in New Delhi, India. Mr. Lacaba is currently the executive editor of Summit Media's YES! magazine, the sister publication of PEP. His screenplay credits include Jaguar, which competed at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1980, while Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim competed in 1984. Orapronobis was screened out of competition in 1989. Ricky Lee co-wrote Jaguar with Mr. Lacaba. In honor of the Lifetime Achievement Awardee, the classic film Bayan Ko will be screened as the closing film of Dekada Cinemanila. According to Anima Aguiluz, the daughter of Direk Tikoy and festival programmer of Cinemanila, they found a copy of Bayan Ko in Toronto, Canada. Aside from honoring Mr. Lacaba, Cinemanila will also pay tribute to Cirio H. Santiago, the director of the films T.N.T. Jackson (1975), Firehawk (1993), Ultimatum (1994), and Vital Parts (2001). The Director in Focus is Brillante "Dante" Mendoza, who will have a retrospective of his films during the 14-day film festival. This year's edition will feature over a hundred films from 35 countries in exhibition, seven films will compete for the international category, seven films will contend for the Southeast Asian competition, while six locally produced entries will contend in the Digital Lokal section. A total of P1 million worth of prizes will be given to the winners of the said sections. Last year, Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino arrived in the country to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award from Cinemanila. Who are the foreign guests who will be attending this year? "We have Kenneth Moraleda, the Fil-Am actor in the movie Lucky Miles. If you're thinking of names like Spike Lee and Oliver Stone, they are not confirmed yet. As you know, it's three weeks before the U.S. elections, and merong crisis sa U.S. so we have no confirmation yet." When PEP asked if it's true that French director Michel Gondry will be attending this year's festival, Direk Tikoy simply said, "Mukhang totoo." Mr. Gondry is best known as the director of the Jim Carrey-Kate Winslet starrer Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). The tenth edition of Cinemanila will run from October 16 to 29 at the Gateway Mall. Tickets for the movies will be sold at P100. - Philippine Entertainment Portal