NOW PLAYING EXCLUSIVELY

REGENT SHOWCASE LA Brea
614 N La Brea at Melrose

323 934-2944

Daily Showtimes:
Friday, Sept. 29
2:30 PM, 5, 7:30 and 10 PM
Sat. - Sun.
Noon, 2:30, 5, 7:30 and 10 PM
Tue. - Thurs.
2:30 PM, 5, 7:30 and 10 PM




Support MAXI this Opening Weekend!

THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS, the Philippines’ official entry to the 2007 Oscar ® Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, opens TODAY!
OPENING WEEKEND is very crucial for any independent film and we strongly encourage our DIVA members and friends to see this multi-award winning gem!



A Film by Auraeus Solito
Written by Michiko Yamamoto
Produced by Raymond Lee
Starring: JR Valentin and Introducing: Nathan Lopez

Winner of the International Jury Prize and two other major awards (both Children’s Jury Prize and Teddy as Best Gay Film) at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, as well as over a dozen awards, THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS is the most internationally lauded Filipino film in decades.




ABOUT THE FILM

Distributed by Unitel Pictures, "MAXIMO" is a lighthearted drama about the purity of first love, pitted against the squalor and corruption in the slums of contemporary Manila where the film is set.
Gay, pre-teen Maxi is deeply and uncomplainingly devoted to his family of petty thieves. He cleans house for them, cooks for them, washes their underwear, mends their tattered jeans, and when necessary, covers their tracks. His world revolves around his father and his two brothers, who love and protect him in return. Until Maxi meets Victor, an honest, well-meaning and handsome policeman. The two become fast friends. Victor inspires Maxi to hope for a better life, which soon incurs the ire and disapproval of Maxi's family.

Nathan Lopez (pictured) stars as "Maxi" in his first role, which won him the Best Actor prize at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival in Spain, where the film also took prizes for Best Picture as well as its Audience Award. Its other honors include Best First Film at the Montreal World Film Festival and the Netpac Jury Prize at the Rotterdam Film Festival.

CRITICS REVIEWS

"One of the finest Filipino films, shimmering with folkloric charm without softening its view of the harshness and injustice of a life of poverty. Sophisticated in its ease and spontaneity, it was directed with clarity and rigor by Auraeus Solito from Michiiko Yamamoto's acutely perceptive script” - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"A buoyant and endearing film!"
- Dennis Lim, Village Voice

"Maximo" has charmed film festival audiences from Sundance to Jerusalem with its refreshingly blasé handling of homosexuality, its amiable actors and its delicacy of milieu."
- Nathan Lee, New York Times

"Heartbreaking and universal! Forget 'Brokeback'--this film is the real thing!"
- Armond White, New York Press

"A colorful and exotic portrait of a young man's sexual awakening!"
- Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

ROTTEN TOMATOES RATING: 100% www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pagd...iveros/

AWARDS

WINNER International Jury Grand Prize for Best Feature Kinderfilmfest, Berlinale 2006
WINNER Teddy Bear for Best Feature Berlinale 2006
WINNER Children's Jury Special Mention Kinderfilmfest, Berlinale 2006
WINNER Grand Prize, Best Picture Cine Festival Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands, Spain, 2006
WINNER Best Actor (Nathan Lopez) Cine Festival Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands, Spain, 2006
WINNER Audience Award for Best Picture Cine Festival Las Palmas, Grand Canary Islands, Spain, 2006
WINNER Best Picture - Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2006
WINNER Best Film - Asian 1st Films Festival, Singapore, 2006
WINNER Best Asian Film, NETPAC Jury Award - Rotterdam Film Festival 2006
WINNER Best Picture - imagineNative Film Fest (Toronto) 2005
WINNER Golden Zenith Award (Best First Feature) - Montreal World Film Festival, 2005
WINNER Special Jury Prize and Balanghai Trophy for Production Design, Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2005, Manila
WINNER Best Picture, Urian Awards (National Film Critics Society), Philippines
WINNER Best Independent Film, Star Awards, Philippines
OFFICIAL SELECTION
World Cinema Section Sundance 2006

MoMA and Lincoln Center's New Directors/New Films (Opening Night) Rotterdam, Montreal World Film Festival, Torino Gay Film Festival, Hong Kong Film Festival, Singapore Asian 1st Films Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, VC Filmfest, Los Angeles OUTFEST Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Message Sticks(Opening Night), Brisbane, Melbourne, Taipei Intl. Film Festival, Seattle Intl. Film Festival, Osian CineFan, Jerusalem Cinematheque, Santiago II International Film Festival Chile, Tokyo Filmex, Vancouver Intl. Film Festival.