Award-winning and critically acclaimed international films on the significantly distinct impact of culture in human relations will be screened for free every Wednesdays of February 2023.  

The rich collection highlights Asian characters and how tradition shapes one’s perceptions and perspectives of romantic partnerships and connections. 

Sepet (2004) by Malaysian director and writer Yasmin Ahmad explored how young love withstood social and racial pressures. Set in Ipoh, the capital city of the Malaysian city of Perak, the teen rom-com followed the story of a Chinese boy who sold unlicensed VCDs and a Malay schoolgirl who sought films featuring her favorite Japanese-Taiwanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro. It is on view on February 1. 

Saving Face (2004), the feature-length debut of American filmmaker and screenwriter Alice Wu, shed light on a secret love that went against cultural expectations. Led by a Chinese-American surgeon, her unwed and pregnant mother and her dancer girlfriend, this rom-com drama was a study on traditional values, stereotypical representation and the fluidity of identity. It is scheduled on February 8.

Berbagi Suami (Love for Share) (2006), directed by Indonesian filmmaker Nia Dinata, narrated the intersecting accounts of a faithful Muslim gynecologist, a village girl and an ambitious waitress who found themselves in a polygamous life. The drama comedy presented the consequences faced by women who accepted the fate of becoming the other wife. It will be available on February 15. 

Crazy Rich Asians (2018) by American film director, producer and screenwriter Jon M Chu tackled how family can complicate relations between significant others. Based on the international bestselling 2013 novel by American author Kevin Kwan, it introduced a Chinese-American economics professor and New Yorker who traveled to finally meet her boyfriend’s family. In her quest, she discovered that they are among the richest in Singapore. It is set on February 22.

Curated by the Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD) of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), the free and public online screenings will be conducted via Zoom every 12 noon on the scheduled dates. To register, email mcad@benilde.edu.ph. For more information, visit the official Facebook page of MCAD (https://www.facebook.com/MCADManila).