Being an avid moviegoer can be an expensive hobby, especially when you’re paying full price to watch movies in cinemas. To remedy this, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has returned with Sine50: Pelikula ng Bayan, a program that provides screenings of selected Filipino films priced at P50 per screening.
This year’s edition of Sine50 features six films to be screened from September 17 to 23 at Robinsons Galleria, Gateway Cineplex, SM Mall of Asia, and Trinoma Cinemas.
Among the program’s film lineup is director Jun Robles Lana’s 2021 comedy-thriller Big Night!, which centers on beautician Dharna (Christian Bables) as he tries to clear his name after being found on a drug watchlist.
Miss Bulalacao, Ara Chawdhury’s directorial debut, is another stellar comedy on the lineup. It follows Dodong (Russ Ligtas), a young drag queen who, after a strange night of being chased into the jungle, discovers that he’s pregnant. The film also stars Chai Fonacier, who won Best Supporting Actress in the 2015 Cinema One Original Films Festival.
Another comedy in the lineup is Victor Villanueva’s Patay na si Hesus, a road trip that follows food vendor Iyay (Jaclyn Jose), who assembles her children — Bert (Vincent Viado), Jude (Fonacier), and Jay (Melde Montañez) — to drive to her estranged husband Hesus’ funeral.
Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus, Dwein Baltazar’s 2018 romance-drama, will also be screened. The film follows four men as they slowly realize that they’re all searching for the same woman, Aileen (Iana Bernardez).
Another drama included in the lineup is Dagitab, director Giancarlo Abrahan’s 2014 fantasy that centers on middle-aged professors Jimmy (Nonie Buencamino) and Issey (Eula Valdez) Tolentino, whose nearly 20-year marriage is shaken when Jimmy falls in love with what seems to be his ex-girlfriend’s ghost, while Issey is drawn to a young student named Gab (Martin Del Rosario).
Last on the lineup is Apocalypse Child, the 2015 drama directed by Mario Cornejo. Set in the surfing town of Baler, the film follows Ford (Sid Lucero), named after Francis Ford Coppola (who shot Apocalypse Now in Baler), who feels as if he’s wasting his youth away stuck in his hometown.
