at the 2007 sydney writers' festival

i returned to sydney last week to facilitate a session on southeast asian diaspora writers in australia during the 2007 sydney writers' festival. the festival also launched my fourth book, from the editors: migrant communities and emerging australian literature (liverpool, new south wales: casula powerhouse, 2007). meanwhile, my festival panel was sponsored by casula powerhouse and liverpool regional museum, with heaps of assistance from the australian federal government, arts new south wales, liverpool city council, the australia council for the arts, tien ve and the lao community advancement (nsw) co-op ltd.

the other members of my panel were lao australian writer and editor sumana viravong, vietnamese australian musician and literary artist ngoc-tuan hoang, and filipina australian poet and playwright noonee doronila. later, eminent filipino poet and former u.p. mindanao chancellor ricardo de ungria drew comparisons and contrasts from his experiences as a creative writer, academic and cultural administrator affiliated with the literary arts committee of the philippine national commission for culture and the arts (ncca).

it was a grueling week. i had to attend festival sessions, meetings with artists, scholars, and cultural administrators, prepare tremendously for my presentation. fortunately, gigi grande, australia news bureau chief of abs-cbn global (my student in communication 1 and 2 at u.p. diliman some years back), was there to document my trip when my digital camera malfunctioned. despite her busy schedule (e.g., covering the philippine president's trip to australia), gigi took me from one festival location to another. she also treated me to meals, high tea and coffee. on my last day, she woke up so early and drove for me from north sydney all the way to the airport. she is angel gigi talaga.

i was very tired but happy when i returned to manila. i can only hope that more filipino writers will be given similar opportunities to take an active part during the annual writers' festival in sydney.

jose wendell capili on ramsay street (haberfield, greater sydney) by gigi grande

with filipino australian artists robert nery, deborah ruiz wall and noonee doronila


reading the highlights of my paper on southeast asian diaspora writers in australia and the consequence of community-based initiatives

with tuan, noonee and ricky

with tuan and noonee

ricky and sumana

with core group members of the a.n.u. philippine studies group

being interviewed by ala paredes for abs-cbn's balitang australia

being interviewed by ronald manila for sbs australia

my fourth book




at the 2007 sydney writers festival

the crowd in liverpool

with gigi grande, australia news bureau chief of abs cbn global before my departure for manila in sydney's kingsford smith airport

anzac bridge, sydney

central station, sydney




scenes from the sydney writers' festival session at the liverpool regional museum

(photos credits: gigi grande)

***

Global Film Initiative buys US rights to The Bet Collector (Jeffrey Jeturian's Kubrador)

Silvia Wong in Singapore

Screen Daily

07 Jun 2007 13:10

Global Film Initiative has taken all US rights to award-winning Filipino drama The Bet Collector (Kubrador).

The deal was negotiated by French sales outfit Wide Management's Matteo Lovadina.

After making its world premiere in Moscow last year, the picture has travelled to about forty film festivals worldwide, winning numerous awards. These include two FIPRESCI awards (at Moscow and New Delhi) as well as four international best actress awards (at New Delhi, Brussels, CineManila and Amiens) for veteran actress Gina Pareno.

Pareno plays an aging bet collector who earns commissions from collecting bets for jueteng, an illegal number game, in the slums of Manila.

The film is directed by Jeffrey Jeturian whose previous credits include Bridal Shower and Bikini Open and produced by MLR Films' Josabeth Alonso and Rogelio Rayala.

***

January 2008 MoMA (New York) Premiere for Kubrador

KUBRADOR/THE BET COLLECTOR will be showcased as part of Global Film Initiative's Global Lens 2008 series, which will premiere in January 2008 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York and screen in up to thirty cities across the United States before going into general theatrical and home video distribution via First Run Features. Traditionally, Global Lens receives good press for the series. KUBRADOR/THE BET COLLECTOR is set to gain further significant attention, as it is one of only two possible films from Southeast Asia in the ten-film series.

***

My previous entries on Jeffrey Jeturian's Kubrador are all here.

in nostalgia manila

a few days before christmas, the moderator behind nostalgia manila (a friend of mine and a fellow iskolar ng bayan from u.p. diliman) asked me a few questions about my childhood and adolescence in manila during the 1970s and 1980s. the online interview finally appeared this week. maraming salamat nostalgia manila for the great feature!


my mom took this shot when i was a few months old

after coffee with some uni house friends in civic

new filipino students arrive in canberra

with incoming filipino m.a. students at the a.n.u.

canberra in christmas

it is summer in canberra. there are very few people during christmas. students go back to their hometowns. public servants take their break elsewhere. many residents actually go to sydney or melbourne. south coast proves to be a worthy alternative for others.

being the nerd that i am, i will be staying in canberra throughout the holidays. some friends have invited me to lunches and dinners but i politely turned down most of them. my thesis is my top priority. i shouldn’t be allowing the jitters to take over. i must stay, write and rewrite. i am really determined to return to manila soon.

as it turns out, some of my close friends here are staying put. i’ll be having christmas breakfast with two other friends somewhere in the city. michael and marlene will pick me up for a christmas lunch with their immediate family. on boxing day, university house student-residents will be having a barbie at the garden. i will also have ample time to call up my family in manila and friends all over.

fortunately, canberra centre has opened its huge extension. for a long time, civic wasn’t the city centre it was meant to be. as a result of the mall’s huge expansion, people are converging towards canberra centre for a great number of reasons. i love the new mall because it has finally opened a branch of borders (the huge international chain of bookstores) and dendy (a chain of cinemas showcasing independent films).

it will not be a bleak midsummer christmas, after all.

ascending borders

borders at canberra centre

canberra from mt. ainslie

canberra centre

view of telstra tower while bushwalking in woden

post office and bus terminal at jolimont centre


restaurants, bars and cafes on melbourne building, along northbourne avenue


sydney building, along northbourne avenue

view of telstra tower from the civic bus interchange

at the national gallery of australia

shops at kingston

the national film and sound archives

australian national university seal outside the school of music

the a.n.u. chancelry

a.n.u. pauline griffin building

possums having their tea at 3:00 a.m. outside a.n.u. coombs building

a cockatoo blissfully observes the tea room, a.n.u. coombs building
(research school of social sciences/research school of pacific and asian studies)

a.n.u. coombs building
(research school of social sciences/research school of pacific and asian studies)

a.n.u. j. b. chifley library

the path leading to a.n.u. w.k. hancock library

the a.n.u. r.g. menzies asia pacific library

a.n.u. union building and square

a.n.u. school of music


a.n.u. john curtin school of medical research


a.n.u. university house

a.n.u. school of art

view of australian national university from black mountain




a.n.u. university avenue