Pinoy children and youth are in for a special cultural treat this weekend on June 5 at 10:30 a.m. and June 6 at 8 p.m. through the Facebook page of the European Union Delegation to the Philippines.
The EU Delegation to the Philippines together with the Embassies of Czech Republic, France, Italy (through the Philippine-Italian Association), Poland, and the Manila Street Astronomers have developed a cultural extravaganza of films, games, songs, stories and an astronomy event.
Thomas Wiersing, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to the Philippines, said that the “Lakbayin natin ang EU” and “Ode to the Stars and to the Moon” aim to enable children to learn about the European Union without having to physically visit the continent especially during this pandemic.
France is the birthplace of film and has contributed immensely to the history, enrichment of the film as an art form. “Fantasmagorie” is an animated film from France by Emile Cohol and is said to be one of the earliest examples of traditional animation.
The French Embassy in this year’s edition of “Lakbayin natin ang EU” has lined up the following children’s films which are accessible until June 25: “14,” “Sales Gosses,” “Raoul,” “Breakfast in Paris,” and “Le Ballet.”
The Embassy of the Czech Republic shall demonstrate how exciting and how similar their two games, skakani panaka, and guma, are with the kind of games that the Philippines has.
From Italy, children will surely get amazed with stories to be told live during the “Lakbayin natin ang EU”: “The Young Shrimp” and “Tonino the Invisible” by Italian writer Gianni Rodari. The Philippine-Italian Association and the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) shall continue their storytelling sessions at the fb page of the NLP.
Meanwhile, the Embassy of Poland through Chargé d’Affaires, a.i JarosÅ‚aw Szczepankiewicz, shall teach kids a traditional birthday song in Poland. The birthday song is “Sto lat” (One Hundred Years) and is sung to express good wishes, good health and long life to a person.
The EU Delegation to the Philippines has invited a gifted filmmaker Jade Dandan Evangelista, 8 years old, to present her film “Get Well Soon”. Her first short film is doing the rounds as part of the official selection in BAM! Festival, Mostra Internacional Cinema Educatiu in Valencia and has been named as a semi-finalist in Zoom.14 in Slovenia.
The EU Delegation has also lined up 2 events for the Ode to the Stars and Moon. Giovanni Seritella, programme manager for Environment and Climate Change, EU Delegation to the Philippines together with professor Jun Cajigal and Doods Perea of the Manila Street Astronomers, shall present different aspects of astronomy and demonstrate the use of telescopes to better appreciate the wonders of the night skies.
Martin Macalintal, cultural attache in the Embassy of France, will play on the piano “SOUS LE CIEL DE PARIS” (Under Paris Skies) by Hubert Giraud. The music is from the film of the same title released in 1951 then popularized by Yves Montand and Edith Piaf.
This event also draws inspiration from the EU’s Copernicus program that is designed to monitor the earth 24/7 through a number of orbiting satellites to better understand our living environment and the many challenges it faces.