NOY, THE MOVIE SHOWN AT THE FIRST ASEAN FILM FESTIVAL IN PRAGUE

On the occasion of the celebration of the 45th Anniversary of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Czech Republic, the ASEAN Embassies in Prague, comprised of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and, Vietnam, held a week-long presentation of selected films from their respective countries which was dubbed as “The First ASEAN Film Festival”, the Philippine Embassy in Prague reported.

The festival was held from September 4 to 8 at the historic Lucerna Cinema in the center of Prague.

A press conference for the ASEAN Ambassadors prior to the screening of the five films was held last August 24.

The press conference aimed to further give ASEAN, through the Film Festival, better exposure among movie and film enthusiasts. It was shown in the cultural segment of television METROPOL, one of the leading television shows in the Czech Republic. News articles about the Festival were also published in the local newspapers.

The Philippine film entry, “NOY”, which was shown last September 6, was a huge success in terms of review and number of attendees. To quote the comment of one of the attendees at the screening of the film,

“Let me thank you for the ASEAN film festival in Praha, which I attended yesterday. I enjoyed the movie Noy as a piece of art, but more importantly as a probe into the nowadays Philippino (Filipino) society. Also it was an update for me on the latest political development in the Philippines.”

NOY is an independent film production that contains actual documentary footage. It was the Philippine’s entry to the Best Foreign Language Film Competition at the 83rd Academy Awards in the United States.

The film presents our everyday struggle in life: survival, hope, progress ad success that spring from moral ascendancy. These are universal themes, themes that have no boundaries.

The occasion was used to promote the Philippines’ tourism campaign “It’s more fun in the Philippines” which was shown before the screening. Greetings from the movie’s lead actor, Mr. Coco Martin, were also presented to open the film.

The 400-seater Lucerna Cinema was almost filled to capacity by members of the Diplomatic Corps, Filipino community, and Czech film goers and cinema clients. A small reception followed after the film presentation.