As part of its cine-club activities, Alliance Française de Manille is delighted to announce the showing of one of the most awarded Filipino film in 2006 ‘’The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveiros’’ by director Auraeus Solito. Every Wednesday evening, Alliance Française de Manille is welcoming cinema’s enthusiasts with a selection of the latest French and Filipinos films. Screenings are free of charge and open to everyone.

The presentation of this powerful and unique intense film will take place at ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE DE MANILLE ONDEO AUDITORIUM (209, Nicanor Garcia St., Bel-Air II, Makati City) on Wednesday, November 26 at 8.30PM. The film will be followed by a Q&A with the director Auraeus Solito and young actor Nathan Lopez. The film is free admission and free of charge.

AURAEUS SOLITO'S first feature film "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros" won 15 international awards including 3 awards at the Berlinale (The Teddy award, International Jury Prize at the Kinderfest and Special Mention from the Children's Jury of the Kinderfest). It is also the first Philippine film nominated for Best Foreign film at the Independents' Spirit Awards in the US. It has been shown in more than 50 film festivals around the world.

Maximo is a preteen boy who lives a feminine life, loved and cared for by his widowed father and two teenage brothers who all lead lives of petty crime. Maximo cooks, cleans, sews and supports his family, and his squalid slum environment is lightened by improvised fashion parades and playing with other kids. When Maximo is helped one day by a new neighbor, Victor, his life takes a drastic turn: He falls in love with the young, good-looking cop. Moreover, Victor angers the family by encouraging Maximo to aspire to a better life. The potential melodrama of this adolescent love story is held deftly in check by scriptwriter Yamamoto (who also wrote the child tragedy film Magnifico) and Solito, who not only coaxes a convincing performance from newcomer Nathan Lopez, but also shades his environment with essential details of an impoverished community. Cell phone theft, illegal numbers games which Maximo helps to run, the ordinary life of a policeman and Maximo's father railing against social injustice all contribute to a portrait of an “outlaw” society that makes its own rules. It is this creation of a sort of urban tribe with its own codes and customs that gives Blossoming its peculiar intensity and charm.

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