San Diego Filipino Film Festival (SDFFF) celebrates its first year anniversary this fall, October 13-18, 2022. Held during Filipino American History Month, San Diego Filipino Cinema's (SDFC) SDFFF is the organization’s centerpiece event that aims to raise awareness for Filipino cinema as an important art form and a powerful tool for representation, education, and entertainment.
The 2nd SDFFF experience will span across San Diego County. Starting with its kickoff at the Mingei International Museum with their annual Magic Hour: SDFFF Preview Night Gala in the heart of Balboa Park to the AMC Theaters Otay Ranch Town Center, SDFFF will bring San Diego communities together to celebrate diversity, culture, and heritage through cinema with a diverse mix of narrative features, documentaries, and short films.
The six-day festival will have in-person film screenings with Q&A with the filmmakers, including networking events, the Visions & Voices panel discussion moderated by award-winning filmmaker Drama Del Rosario, a virtual Film Market component open to accredited film distributors, sales agents, and media partners, and the launch of BARYO RISING Dance Festival on the 2nd day of the film festival. Festival Highlights: SDFFF opens by showing five exceptional short films, giving tribute to the art form of short cinema. The lineup includes "Who to Love" by Rommel Andaya, "Harana" (Serenade) by Marie Jamora, "Velvet Sky" by Charles Gray, "Never Forget" by Ida Anita Del Mundo, and "Beauty Queen" by Myra Aquino. At the heart of the festival is the Centerpiece Feature event featuring the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Innovative Spirit awardee, Leonor Will Never Die by Martika Ramirez Escobar. Another notable fest highlight playing under the Retrospective Spotlight is the classic Filipino film Karnal (Of the Flesh, 1983) directed by Philippine National Artist for Film & Broadcast Arts, Marilou Diaz-Abaya. The screening of Karnal is made possible by ABS-CBN'S Sagip Pelikula (Film Restoration). And finally, the festival closes with We Don't Dance for Nothing by Stefanos Tai, a compelling feature debut captured in Super-16 that blends still images with motion dance.
Aside from the film screenings, SDFFF will also launch its very first dance festival called BARYO RISING, featuring an all-Filipino lineup of music producers and DJs, food vendors, and a beer/spirit garden. BARYO RISING aims to highlight the creative musical expressions of local Filipino music producers and DJs and to gather music lovers and cineastes alike. BARYO RISING is part of SDFFF and will be happening on the second day of the festival.
SDFFF aims not only to be a platform to amplify Filipino visions, voices, and stories but also to foster new interest in filmmaking and cinema as art throughout the local and global Filipino community. SDFC strives to have the festival accessible to everyone and welcome audiences from all backgrounds.