Restlessly longing this month of love with these Yearnfest Film Night films
Restlessly longing this month of love with these Yearnfest Film Night films
Feature art by Abigail Manaluz
The cold December breeze may have left us, and the new year has already sent their greetings to our lonely hearts, but this collection of queer films screened at the Yearnfest Film Night remains a must watch especially this month of love. Stories ranging from one time encounters to end of relationships, these are guaranteed heartbreakers and will sure make your heart yearn even more.
Andre Miguel and Neal Patrick in Please Remember This Night (2023). Courtesy of SBSG Pictures.
Please Remember This Night (2023)
Dir. Joshua De Vera
A strange night to remember. Failing to catch the last train ride, two strangers decided to walk home together instead. Their bond grew closer as they revealed more details about each other. Joshua De Vera's Please Remember This Night is a promising debut short film with remarkable performances from Andre Miguel and Neal Patrick.
AJ Sison and Philip Altejos in We Were Never Really Strangers (2022). From IMDB.
We Were Never Really Strangers (2022)
Dir. Patrick Pangan
With a similar set up of unplanned interactions with a stranger as Please Remember This Night, We Were Never Really Strangers follows a young man (AJ Sison) as he encounters another young man (Philip Altejos) after mass and decided to tag along with him to explore the province he's in. An intimate exploration of culture and brief connections, Patrick Pangan's short film is a must watch for yearners.
Neal Patrick and Arjay Ramos in Hold Me Tighter Than Before (2023). Courtesy of Sine Sibol.
Hold Me Tighter Than Before (2023)
Dir. Mar-ian Ejandra
The other half of the curation is spent on capturing heartbreak in yearning. In Hold Me Tighter Than Before, we see a couple, Aleck and Kirby (Neal Patrick and Arjay Ramos) as they examine the nature of their relationship, a casual setup that is turning into something more emotional and complex than they imagined. The overall presentation of Mar-ian Ejandra's short has no dialogue and it's very effective given how it was directed and acted by the main leads.
AJ Sison and Andre Miguel in The World We We Left (2023). From their official Facebook page.
The World We Left (2023)
Dir. Sean Russel Romero
Last but not the least, Sean Russel Romero's The World We Left. Home is something you hold dear the most and letting go something you considered as home for such a long time is painful. In this short film, we see two exes, Jeck and Simon (AJ Sison and Andre Miguel), fighting over the ownership of their apartment and as it went on, old memories resurface that reveals the cracks of their relationship that eventually led to its end. Impressively shot and acted, Romero's film earning accolades (more recently the Gawad Balangaw award in ALT-R Heroes Film Festival 2024) in multiple film festivals is much deserved.
Yearnfest Film Night was held last December 6, 2023. SINEGANG.ph was one of the official media partners of the event.
