Fifteen short films in the collegiate category and ten films from the high school division will vie for the Cardinal Best Film Awards of CineMapúa, the country’s longest-running student short film festival.
The winners of its 19th edition will be known during the awarding ceremonies to be streamed via Facebook Live on December 3 at 7 p.m.
The Cardinal Best Film Awardees (Gold, Silver and Bronze) in both categories will receive cash prizes and certificates. Special Cardinal Individual Film Awards will also be given in both divisions, including the new Cultural Heritage Award for the film that best depicts and preserves Philippine arts and cultural heritage.
Mapúa University’s School of Media Studies Dean Benigno Agapito Jr., who also acts as the chairman of CineMapúa, was elated by the overwhelming response that they got from student filmmakers, getting more than 100 entries for both categories – the highest since its inception in 2002.
Agapito shared that the festival serves as a testament to the power of visual storytelling through film technology and it empowers students to continue creating quality stories in uplifting the spirits and articulating the concerns, dreams, and hopes of the viewing public despite the pandemic.
“Stories have no boundaries, and this health crisis needs more visual narratives to deliver information and knowledge to the people. Their visual storytelling could be a powerful medium for human and social development, particularly during this time of the pandemic,” he added.
“Ang Laswa ni Lola Mame” (Vincent Joseph Entuna, UP Diliman), “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi” (Shiri Francesca de Leon, MINT College), “Blood Stew” (Aaron Neil Domingo, FEU), “Bycatch” (Jerico Felicilda, PUP), “Lysistrata” (John Patrick Manio, UP Diliman), “Manyaok” (Kate Villanueva, UP Visayas), “Maupay Nga Aga, Puniti Kita” (Chicken Ligaya, University of San Carlos), “Miss Informed” (Earvic Noay, UP Open University), “Silang Mga Naligaw Sa Limot” and “Sina Alexa, Xander at ang Universe” (Vahn Leinard Pascual, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde), “The Congressus” (Jan Darryl Villafuerte, Mapúa), “The Girl from Nowhere” (Flory Ann Tacuban, UP Visayas), “The Transfiguration of Saint Mike” (Jermaine Tulbo, MINT College), “Tugaw sa Uma” (Raphael Jay Cordova, Mindanao State University), and “Unsaved Changes” (Andrei Francis Arrocena, Ateneo de Davao University) comprise the collegiate film finalists.
Meanwhile, the ten high school division finalists are “Ahmad & Abdul” (Muhaliden Cawi, MSU-Malabang Community High School), “Babo Kikasoy” (Nabelah Dimaocom, MSU-MCHS), “Dapithapon” (Ethan John Dela Cruz and Marie James Palisoc, Siena College of Taytay), “Ilaw” (Aldwin Jerico Atutubo, FEU High School), “Lente” (Tereon Jay Tulaña, University of Perpetual Help System Biñan, Laguna), “My Dearly Love” (Joseph Marc Salas, St. Mary’s School of Cagayan de Oro), “Orpheus” (Vince Ivan Vesiete, General Santos City National Secondary School of Arts and Trades), “Sa Labas” (Jadrien Marc Morales, MINT College), “The Elusive Star” (Norbert Francis Baylon, Kabankalan Catholic College), and “The Girl from Paradeyes” (Amelia Elizabeth Perez, Catholic Filipino Academy).
This year, it also selected four international student films, “Grandma’s Tale of the Magical Outenga” (Rishab Thakur, India), “My Black Heart” (Garush Ghazaryan, Armenia), “Split” (Kang Zheng Shueen, Malaysia), and “Tears of Gold” (Richie Chooi, Taiwan), for its inaugural World Short Film Section.
The festival ran from November 22 to 28 via Yuchengco Museum’s new digital platform YFilms (yfilms.ph), a hub created to offer and promote independent Filipino filmmakers and cultural films.
