“Almost”
is how I would describe my 9th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2013 experience. I was able to see the
opening and closing films, a special screening, and fourteen out of the fifteen
films in competition. And for the second year in a row, I completely missed out
on seeing the shorts. Compared to my last year when I only saw about half of
the films in competition, this year had me back big time. But still, it still
didn’t match what I’ve achieved back in 2011 when I watched everything that was
there to watch. I actually almost made it fifteen out of fifteen for the
feature length films in competition but an act of nature late in the festival
forced me to miss one film during its last screening.
Here
are the winners of the 9th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film
Festival 2013:
Short Feature Category
Best Screenplay - Paolo O’ Hara for The Houseband’s Wife
Best Direction - JE Tiglao for Onao
Special Citation - Sa Wakas
Special Jury Prize -
Taya
Audience Choice - Taya
Best Film - The Houseband’s Wife
Directors Showcase Category
Best Sound - Roger TJ Ladro (Jerrold Tarog) for Sana
Dati
Best Original Music Score - Jerrold Tarog for Sana
Dati
Best Editing - Pats R. Ranyo (Jerrold Tarog) for Sana
Dati
Best Production Design - Ericson Navarro for Sana
Dati
Best Cinematography - Mackie Galvez for Sana
Dati
Best Screenplay - Zig Dulay, Antoinette Jadaone and Jeffrey
Jeturian for Ekstra
Best Performance of a Supporting Actor - TJ Trinidad for Sana
Dati
Best Performance of a Supporting Actress - Ruby Ruiz for
Ekstra
Best Direction - Jerrold Tarog for Sana
Dati
Best Performance of an Actor - No Award Given
Best Performance of an Actress - Vilma Santos for Ekstra
Special Jury Prize - Ekstra
Audience Choice - Ekstra
NETPAC Award - Ekstra
Best Film - Sana
Dati
New Breed Category
Best Sound - Michael Idioma for Quick Change
Best Original Music Score - Mon Espia for Transit
Best Editing - Benjamin Tolentino and Hannah Espia for Transit
Best Production Design - Roy Red for Rekorder
Best
Cinematography - Ber Cruz and Lyle Nemenzo Sacris for Transit
Best Screenplay - Eduardo Roy Jr. for Quick Change
Best Performance of a Supporting Actor - Joey Paras for
Babagwa
Best Performance of a Supporting Actress - Jasmine
Curtis-Smith for Transit
Best Direction - Hannah Espia for Transit
Best Performance of an Actor - Mimi Juareza for Quick Change
Best Performance of an Actress - Irma Adlawan for Transit
Special Citation for Ensemble Acting - Transit
Special Jury Prize - Quick Change
Audience Choice - Transit
NETPAC Award - Transit
Best Film - Transit
I
missed the opening night last year so it was great for me to be back once again
to experience it this year. I was so pleased that I arrived very early at the Cultural Center of the Philippines
because thunderstorms occurred during the early evening that delayed and
drenched a lot of people who were trying to get into the venue. The opening
ceremonies had Tad Ermitanyo doing an audiovisual presentation and Richardson
Yadao, Cyril Fallar and Jean Marc Cordero of Ballet Philippines performing an
excerpt from Ernest Mandap’s Zebra
which is part of the company’s production The
Art of Dance happening on February 2014.
Jazz in Love
The
film Jazz in Love is notable for
being the first time ever that a documentary was chosen to be the opening film
of Cinemalaya. The film tells the story of Filipino Ernesto “Jazz” Tiglao and
his German boyfriend Theo Rutkowski. The two lovers make preparations so that
Jazz can join Theo in Germany
and get married there since same sex marriage is not legal in the Philippines .
Jazz takes up German language lessons that required for acquiring a fiancé visa
while Theo flies over to visit Jazz. If only the road to happily ever after fairy
tale ending that the two are looking for is that simple. Soon enough, Jazz’s
happy go lucky attitude and Theo’s stubborn nature show the cracks in their
relationship. I won’t divulge if they are able to patch things up or if their
love story got smashed into pieces but all I will say is that Regine Velasquez’s
Dadalhin, sung by a young boy during
a party in Jazz’s house, was used very effectively in the film. I was told by
film maker Baby Ruth Villarama-Gutierrez that they didn’t really intend to use
the song in the film since he just decided to sing it and he had no idea that
it would fit perfectly.
Boses
Once
I learned that Boses, originally
shown during the 4th Cinemalaya back in 2008, would be having a
homecoming screening this year, I knew that I had to see it no matter what.
This film by Ellen Ongkengko-Marfil tackles the serious issue of child abuse.
Onyok, played by Julian Duque, is the abused child who gets rescued from his drunkard
father (Ricky Davao). He is placed at a shelter where he encounters recluse
violinist Ariel played by real life violin virtuoso Alfonso “Coke” Bolipata.
And they find in each other the path towards healing (for Onyok) and redemption
(for Ariel). Boses is indeed a feel good film that deserved all the push that
it got when it had its commercial screening just a few days after Cinemalaya
2013 opened. I am so pleased that I was able to see it since I’ve been wanting
to for some years now. It was also a treat to see Julian Duque, who is now a
teenager during Cinemalaya wherein he also played the violin onstage prior to
the screening of the film.
 |
| Julian Duque from Boses |
Rekorder
Rekorder is the first full length
feature film by Mikhail Red, the youngest film maker who ever had an entry at
the Cinemalaya. While the film really captured the grimy world of washed out
cameraman Maven (Ronnie Quizon), the pacing was a tad too slow for me. After establishing
Maven and how he illegally records movies shown in cinemas, the film took a
long time for some action to get going. Despite flashbacks showing Maven as a
family man, it was hard to sympathize with him and his predicament. And it was
only a lot later when I found out that the CCTV footage that was being shown in
the end was that of Maven and his family. But I didn’t realize that it was
actually him when I watched the film since his features weren’t really
discernible. It gave me some sense of relief when I learned that that scene
wasn’t a real CCTV footage or else it would’ve disturbed me to no end.
 |
| Mikhail Red from Rekorder |
 |
| Lowell Conales from Rekorder |
Ekstra
Jeffrey
Jeturian’s Ekstra undoubtedly was
the film that had the most buzz coming into the festival and it’s all because
of Vilma Santos. And her fans, known as Vilmanians came in droves during the
Gala Screening of the film. Vilma sheds her glamorous image as Loida, an extra at
a television soap opera who has to endure long hours, horrible working
conditions and all sorts of mishaps just to earn her keep. One couldn’t help
but cheer for her with every small triumph and also console her for each of her
setbacks. And I don’t think that this film would work if the role of Loida went
to another actress. The movie also featured big time stars in minor/cameo/bit
roles like Richard Yap, Cherry Pie Picache, Piolo Pascual, Marian Rivera,
Cherie Gil, Tom Rodriguez and Pilar Pilapil. I think that the only setback of
this film was that it felt too Babae sa
Septic Tank for me. The mood of the film, the quirky characters, the inside
jokes and even the product placements felt like they were rehashed from Babae sa Septic Tank. This somehow
diluted the impact of Ekstra for me
since both films were only two years apart.
 |
| Josef Señeres from Ekstra |
Transit
Transit having been shot in Israel was more than enough to make this film by Hannah Espia be among
the absolutely must watch for me. I must admit that I wasn’t expecting that
much since the trailer showed very little. But I was blown away by what I’ve
seen. This film tells the tale of siblings Janet (Irma Adlawan) and Moises (Ping
Medina) who live and work in Israel .
Their struggles are intensified when the Israeli government passes a new law
that forces children of foreign workers to be deported back to their homelands.
Moises’ four year old son Joshua (Marc Justine Alvarez) is forced to hide
inside the house to avoid getting caught. Janet, on the other hand, has to deal
with her teenage daughter Yael (Jasmine Curtis-Smith) who is starting to
explore more as teenagers are inclined to do. Tina (Mercedes Cabral), a newly
arrived overseas worker from the Philippines ,
becomes the audience’s eyes as she gets exposed to the living and working
conditions in Israel .
I really liked the non-linear storytelling used in this film by having each
segment coming from the perspective of a major character and then all combining
to form a complete picture. Right after the film, I managed to introduce Hannah
Espia, Irma Adlawan and Jasmine Curtis-Smith to Mr. Adam Levene, the new Deputy
Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Israel. Both actresses waited in anticipation for Mr. Levene’s verdict on their
Hebrew and he said that they spoke the language convincingly. Transit became my early favorite and it
was up to the rest of the films to either surpass or match it.
 |
| Irma Adlawan from Transit |
 |
| Ping Medina from Transit |
 |
| Jasmine Curtis-Smith from Transit |
 |
| Israel Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Adam Levene and Irma Adlawan |
I still find it hard to imagine that I was able to survive watching four films (Boses, Rekodrer, Ekstra and Transit) in one day. But I missed the first day or regular screenings which meant that I was already behind and that I needed to catch up if I still aimed to see all feature films in competition.
No comments:
Post a Comment