ABUJA, 25 November 2022 – The Philippine Embassy in Abuja participated for the third time in the Asian Film Festival in the Nigerian capital, showcasing a contemporary film that uses the traditional Filipino children’s game “patintero” as its setting.

The Philippine Embassy joined the diplomatic missions of China, Iran, South Korea, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Syria in participating at the fourth edition of the Festival held on 21-25 November 2022 at the Chinese Cultural Center Abuja, which has a seating capacity for 100 guests. Opening day was attended by the ambassadors and representatives of the participating countries, led by Malaysian High Commissioner to Nigeria Gloria Tiwet,, and officials of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC). The Philippine Embassy, led by Charge d’Affaires Roderico Atienza, screened on 24 November 2022 “Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo”, a 2016 coming-of-age film directed by Mikh Vergara that features one of the most popular outdoor games played by children in the Philippines.

The screening of “Patintero” was made possible by the provision of the film rights by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) through its Philippine Embassies Assistance Program (PEAP).

The Embassy served Filipino street food to the audience numbering 60 at the intermission between the Indonesian and Filipino films, offering beef lumpiang shanghai, a Filipino take on the famous egg or spring roll, a variant of tokneneng or deep-friend chicken eggs in batter, and turon, a deep-friend banana roll. For drinks, the Embassy served samalamig, specifically sago’t gulaman, a traditional sweet chilled beverage featuring tapioca and black jelly.

Photo: The staff of the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria, led by Roderico C. Atienza, Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. and Consul General, stand before the poster of “Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo”, a 2016 coming-of-age film directed by Mikh Vergara, which was screened on 24 November 2022, at the Chinese Cultural Center Abuja.  

Photo: The Philippine Embassy served Filipino street food to the audience numbering 60 at the intermission between the Indonesian and Filipino films, offering beef lumpiang shanghai, a Filipino take on the famous egg or spring roll, a variant of tokneneng or deep-friend chicken eggs in batter, and turon, a deep-friend banana roll.

The other films featured at this year’s Festival include At Last (China, 2021), Villa Dwellers (Lebanon, 2017), Parasite (Korea, 2021), Under the Bombs (Lebanon, 2007), Hasina: A Daughter’s Tale (Bangladesh, 2018), Lights from the East: I Am Maluku (Indonesia, 2014), The Milestone (Malaysia), and The Last Breakfast (Syria, 2021).

The Philippine Embassy participated in the inaugural festival held at the same venue on 3-8 July 2017, as well as on the 2nd Asian Film Festival held on 10-14 December 2018 at the Korean Cultural Center Nigeria. -END