IN the present day, Filipinos would have to pay at least P350 to watch one film in a movie house. But what if they would be given a chance to go back to the time when movie tickets only cost less than P100?

Viewers won’t have to hop into a time machine to experience this, with the launching of Sine Singkwenta by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) this September.

Moviegoers will only have to pay P50 to enjoy one of the six award-winning films that will be screened for the Sine Singkwenta initiative.  

“Sine Singkwenta is FDCP’s initiative to encourage Filipino viewers to go back to the cinemas and enjoy once more the communal experience of watching a film on the silver screen, along with other moviegoer, for a very affordable price of PHP50.00,” the FDCP said in a Facebook post.

This rare cinema experience will be available in cinemas in SM Southmall, TriNoma, and Robinsons Galleria from September 11 to 17.

The FDCP launched this initiative for the celebration of the 3rd Philippine Film Industry Month.

Through Proclamation No. 1085 issued in 2021, September was declared Philippine Film Industry Month to celebrate and promote the film industry. 

The FDCP is mandated to lead the observance of the occasion and to identify the programs, projects and activities for its celebration. 

If the Sine Singkwenta program catches your attention, here are the highly-acclaimed films from the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan that you can look forward to watching:

Honor Thy Father

Honor Thy Father is a thriller that centers on a Filipino family who deals with financial challenges when they get involved in investment fraud with a religious group.

But the movie’s trailer shows that Honor Thy Father is not just about simply paying debts, as some scenes in the film involve murder.

John Lloyd cruz headlined the 2017 film, along with Meryll Soriano, Tirso Cruz III, Dan Fernandez, Perla Bautista, and Yayo Aguila, among others. Erik Matti helmed the movie.

Honor Thy Father was screened at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival under the Contemporary World Cinema section. It was also an official entry to the 2015 Metro Manila Film festival.

On the Job

Another Matti movie will be screened during the Sine Singkwenta run.

On The Job follows the story of two inmates who are hired by politicians to execute contract killings, and are then trailed by two law enforcers.

The two inmates were played by Joel Torre and Gerald Anderson, while Joey Marquez and Piolo Pascual portrayed the law enforcers.

The 2013 action film has a sequel titled On the Job: The Missing 8 that came out in 2021. It tells the story of a journalist who starts an investigation into the disappearances of his colleagues, and of an inmate who is frequently released from prison to carry out assassinations.

There is also a six-part On the Job also miniseries adapted from the 2013 and 2021 films.

John Denver Trending

A story of a teenage boy is at the center of the independent film John Denver Trending.

In the 2019 movie by director Arden Rod Condez, a 14-year-old student named John Denver Cabungcal finds himself being the talk of the town when a video of him beating up his classmate went viral on social media. 

The people immediately came to judge the student despite having no idea that the reason for the fight between John and his classmate is the latter’s accusation that the former stole his iPad. 

A phrase at the end of the movie’s trailer read, “Ang kwento niya ay kwento natin sa panahon ng social media.”

Meryll Soriano starred in the film as the mother of John, played by Jansen Magpusao.

John Denver Trending was screened in South Korea and Singapore. In 2022, the FDCP said the 2019 movie was the first Filipino film that was screened widely in South Korea.

Respeto

Respeto highlights the story of a rapper named Hendrix who was born in poverty but dreams of becoming big in the hip-hop scene. He then meets Doc, who is an old poet and is still haunted by his experiences during the martial law. 

The movie poses the question of whether or not the lives of this unlikely tandem will change because of their chance encounter.

The 2017 film was directed by Treb Monteras and featured rapper Abra, who is known in the world of FlipTop rap battle.

Train To Busan

Many Filipinos have probably heard about this 2016 South Korean action-horror film about zombies.

Train To Busan follows a divorced man named Seok-woo who has little time for his daughter Su-an because of work. The father-and-daughter tandem then go on an unplanned trip when Su-an boards a train to see her mom, pushing Seok-woo to follow his child. 

But their trip descends into full-blown chaos when an unusual virus that turns infected people into zombies breaks out.

Goblin star Gong Yoo starred in the film, along with Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Kim Su-an, Choi Woo-shik, and Kim Eui-sang. The film was directed by Yeon Sang-ho, who is known for his animated works The King of Pigs and The Fake.

Train To Busan has a standalone sequel in 2020 titled Peninsula, which follows a soldier who has to retrieve a truck full of money from a zombie-inhabited wasteland in South Korea.

Your Name

Who has moved on from this 2016 Japanese animated romance-fantasy film?

Your Name or Kimi no Nawa is a story of two high school students who switch bodies with one another, even though they haven’t met each other in person. The connection between the two becomes more complex when they decide to meet.

The 2016 animated film had its Los Angeles premiere during the 2016 Anime Expo, before it was released in Japanese theaters.

The voices of Ryunosuke Kamiki and Mone Kamishiraishi gave soul to the characters of the two students Taki Tachibana  and Mitsuha Miyamizu.

Your Name was directed by Makoto Shinkai, the man behind the hit romance-fantasy animated film Weathering With You.