A screengrab of ‘Water Lemon,’ one of QCinema 2015 Circle Competition’s entries starring Tessie Tomas and Junjun QuintanaStorylinesAng Lubong ni Hesus is a Cebuano comedy-drama road film by award-winning Filipino film director Victor Louie Villanueva. The movie shows how the status quo of a dysfunctional and emotionally bankrupted family headed by Isay, a single mother, takes a wild turn upon receiving word that her ex-husband, Hesus, has already passed away.In Ang Manananggal sa Unit 22B, powerhouse couple writer Jen Chuaunsu and director Prime Cruz show the struggles of Jewel, a manananggal (creature who separates from its lower body and becomes a winged monster at night) who falls in love with a broken-hearted man. Can Jewel find true love or is she destined to live alone forever?Baboy Halas, a piece directed by Bagane Fiola, melds reality and fantasy together. Set in a mountain in Bukidnon, the movie follows the life of a hunter who transforms into a boar after plunging into the Enchanted River to pursue an Enchanted Nymph, masquerading as a white pig.In the Best. Partee. Ever., first-time indie filmmaker HF Yambao narrates city jail goings-on through the eyes of Mikey, a young, discreet gay man from the affluent class who spends five years in a city jail while hearing his case for drug pushing. Mikey eventually finds himself as the ringleader of a group of gay inmates called “Gang-da” and together they survive the dangers lurking behind prison bars.Gusto Kita With All my Hypothalamus by Dwein Baltazar takes the narrative to Avenida Rizal the once “downtown” of Manila, where the fates of four men intertwine: A pickpocket, a widowed old man, a university student, and a thrift shop employee, all connected by a mysterious beauty named Aileen.In Hinulid, director Kristian Cordero trails behind a woman who travels to Cagbunga, Camarines Sur while carrying the ashes of her only son. She rides an old train that circles her universe like the tandayag, the primordial serpent known in the Tagalog and Bicol region.Purgatoryo directed by Roderick Cabrido, tells the story of Ilyong, a man recently killed by the police after he was caught stealing. His death signaled the start of a story that showed the complex relationship of a gambling lord, a policeman, a funeral parlor owner, and her two helpers.Internationally renowned filmmaker Sheron Dayoc showed his prowess in Women of the Weeping River, a film project that has received international development grants and a production grant. Satra, a widow living in the southern Mindanao, forms a relationship with an aging village woman named Farida to help her in holding peace talks with a rival family.Visit www.qcinema.ph to get more information about the film festival and its lineup.
