The Philippine Embassy in Madrid co-organized the first edition of the ASEAN Film Festival in Spain, held on 2 to 6 October 2019. The festival, a non-competitive event, was jointly organized by the ASEAN Committee in Madrid (composed of the Embassies of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam), the Asia Film Industry in Spain and Latin America (AFIAS), and the Spain Moving Images Festival.
To formally launch the film festival, a press conference and reception were held at the Indonesian Embassy on 26 September. During the meeting, Indonesian Ambassador Hermono, in his capacity as current chair of the ASEAN Committee in Madrid, addressed the assembled press representatives and presented the joint trailer for the films submitted by the participating embassies.
The ASEAN film festival was the first of its kind held in Spain, with ten feature-length films submitted for screening from 2 to 6 October at the Cine Estudio of the Circulo de Bellas Artes, one of Spain’s most prominent cultural institutions.
The Philippine entries to the festival included Mamang [2018] directed by Denise O’Hara, and Distance [2018] directed by Percival Intalan, with both being well-received by the mixed Filipino and Spanish audiences that attended their screenings.