Newsletter

May 5, 2023

We're only a few weeks away from the Digital Rights Asia-Pacific (DRAPAC23) Assembly's Cinemata Big Screen, and we look forward to seeing you there!

This edition announces Cinemata Big Screen film program lineup, Cinemata's first on-site regional film showcase. Plus, read about Cinemata's recent on-site student films screening in partnership with UPFI Film Center, and watch social issue films from Myanmar and the Philippines.

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LATEST NEWS

Cinemata Big Screen: Stories of Solidarity

In less than a month, Cinemata is set to step out into the offline world with Cinemata Big Screen, a week-long program running parallel to the DRAPAC23 Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

From May 22 to 26, 2023, the on-site film screening will feature over 20 films from countries across the Asia-Pacific that address the challenges of living in an increasingly digitised world. Beyond film screenings, the event provides opportunities for community engagement through film and impact production masterclasses.

The regional film showcase opens with two major digital rights films tackling surveillance and the impact of social media with Terror Contagion (2021), a short film from the anthology The Everlasting Storm (2021) by multi-awarded filmmaker Laura Poitras, followed by Arden Rod Condez’s powerful and emotional feature-length film, John Denver Trending (2019).

CHECK THE FILM PROGRAM

Cinemata Big Screen is part of the larger program of the Digital Rights Asia-Pacific Assembly (DRAPAC23), which brings together changemakers from the Asia-Pacific to strengthen solidarity and networks, champion diversity and inclusion within the movement, and bridge the media, technology, and human rights fields.

With over 100 sessions spread out across five days and the city of Chiang Mai, DRAPAC23 aims to infuse the movement with a broader range of allied actors: digital and human rights advocates, academics, journalists, media-makers, artists, designers, technologists, youth advocates, and representatives from marginalised communities. The Assembly also emphasises the representation of increasingly unheard voices in digital rights spaces.

REGISTER TO ATTEND DRAPAC23 AND CINEMATA BIG SCREEN

 

CINEMATA PARTNERSHIPS

UPFI x CINEMATA

Cinemata thanks everyone who attended the on-site screening of the films featured in 'Cinemata Visions: Lived Lives in the Present Struggle', a UP Film Institute student showcase curated by Prof. Jaja Arumpac, in partnership with UPFI Film Center.

The collection of UPFI student films produced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines screened last April 27 at the UPFI Film Center, University of the Philippines Diliman. The screening was followed by a Q&A session with the filmmakers, moderated by Cinemata curators.

Organiser: UPFI Film Center

Country: Philippines

 

CINEMATA FEATURES

This fourth feature spotlights Annisa Adjam, a director, producer, and writer from Indonesia. She is the chief executive officer of the Jakarta-based company Sinema 5, which collaborates with emerging filmmakers and provides screenwriting and directing courses to build a creative talent pool. She is also the chairperson of Inteamates, a creative community dedicated to creating social change through various storytelling forms, digital campaigns, public discussions, and social events.

Read the blogpost.

'Cinemata Features’ is a series highlighting film practitioners in the Asia-Pacific – filmmakers, film groups, curators, critics, and archivists – who create and disseminate social and environmental issue films in the region.

Country: Indonesia

WATCH THE INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

 

FEATURED FILMS

'World Press Freedom Day'

Amidst the military crackdown on media and the arrest of journalists in Myanmar, independent radio station Federal FM fights for civil society's access to fair news and its right to information.

Producer: Athan 

Country: Myanmar

WATCH THE FILM

 

'Brigada Nueve' (Cell No. 9)

'Brigada Nueve' (Cell No. 9) is a film on the collective experiences of former female political prisoners in the Philippines. Here, they share their struggles, the truth of living inside prison walls, and how they fought for their freedom.

This film is part of the 'Cinemata Visions: Lived Lives in the Present Struggle' playlist.

Director: Maricon C. Montajes

Country: Philippines

WATCH THE FILM

 

'Victim Diaries: Debie'

Through organised campaigns by his union, factory worker Debie received a pay increase and was allowed emergency loans during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the Philippines.

On #LaborDay, people around the globe gather to honour workers and fight for their rights.

Director: Noel Colina

Country: Philippines

WATCH THE FILM