Active Vista Film Festival Changing the way we view the world
“While it is true that no song, no poem, no painting, no novel, no film has ever stopped a tank, prevented a bullet, or overthrown a corrupt government, the virtue of every art form in enriching the Filipino spirit cannot be rivaled. While movies can’t feed a hungry child, bring justice to the oppressed, or solve poverty, they can open our minds to the plight of children against starvation, make us understand the worth of justice and peace, and get us involved in the struggle against poverty and oppression in many ways that newspapers, classroom lectures or a thousand publicity ads could ever hope to. Because while art may not change the world, it can change the way we view the world. For true revolution begins in the imagination.”
WHAT IS ACTIVE VISTA?
The Active Vista Film Festival is organized by DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism through the support of the National Commission on Culture and Arts and the Philippine Independent Filmmakers Cooperative. Active Vista is a film festival that will feature full-length or short films, video documentaries or animation that tackle core values that promote responsible citizenship and various advocacies that contribute to nation building.
Active Vista. Dynamic Views. Active Vista challenges to define a spectrum in the use of film as a powerful tool in shaping the consciousness of a new generation of film goers into the importance of critical thinking as the foundation of responsible citizenship and nation building. The term “active vista” is characterized to encourage dynamism in views as a fundamental requirement in addressing methods and directions of social transformation.
Active Vista aims to utilize film as a medium to instill the core values of responsible citizenship to effect public involvement in advocacies that help in nation building. By creating venues of exposure of the public, especially those in the grassroots sectors, Active Vista hopes to cultivate critical thinking and to encourage dynamism of views as a method to educate its audience. At the same time, by tapping on a market that has been bombarded with commercially viable formula movies, Active Vista aims to inspire a renewed interest on Philippine Cinema of the Filipino masses.
Active Vista aims to contribute to Philippine Cinema by shaping a revolution of the minds of the Filipino audience. By showing films that celebrate the talents of the Filipino film makers and the nobility of the Filipinos, it hopes to stir critical thinking among its audience as a step towards their education as citizens. The films chosen to be shown in this festival will hopefully inspire public interest to the art of cinema as a tool for people empowerment and nation building.
FESTIVAL THEME
Active Vista aims to promote films that dwell on various advocacies and impart core values of heroism. Active Vista is open to all full-length, short, animation or documentary films that deal with the following theme or subjects:
Kasaysayan ng Kagitingan [Filipino Heroism, Culture and National Identity]
By showing films that dwell on the celebration of our rich culture and tradition, the chronicles of the life and times of our heroes and the struggles of our country to attain our identity and pride as a nation, we may be able to instill values that defy our long confinement from colonial mentality.
Katuwiran, Karapatan at Kapayapaan [Justice, Gender and Human Rights, and Peace]
By presenting films that depict the on going struggle of our nation to achieve justice, gender equality, respect for human rights and peace, we may be able to lay the foundation for an empowered citizenry.
Kalikasan [Environment]
By displaying the beauty of a country gifted with abundant natural resources, we may be able to impart the pressing need to protect and preserve our environment.
Kabataan…Kinabukasan [Education, Children and Youth]
By portraying the intricacies of everyday survival of the Filipino youth, we may be able to find a path to build their future.
Kaunlaran [Social Progress – Poverty, Hunger, Health, Debt and Issues of Marginalized Sectors of Society]
By featuring films that depict the struggles of the common man in a country that despite the promise of progress has failed to provide children with quality education, families of decent shelter, workers of fair wages, farmers with a land of their own, and majority of the population with dignity of life, we may be able to achieve a national development goal that balances social progress with social justice.
Kasarinlan at Kalayaan [Democracy and Good Governance]
By presenting the formation of a young nation struggling to practice democracy and good governance, we may be able to collectively transverse the road to nation building.
How to be part of the Active Vista Film Festival
The Active Vista Film Festival features films that may range from classics to digital films, mainstream and independent films. The Festival is not a film competition. What Active Vista provides is a venue for your film to be shown to a large viewing public. What Active Vista can give is a small honorarium for the film makers whose films were chosen to be part of the festival. What Active Vista offers is an opportunity to get your message across the Filipino people. What Active Vista shares is the vision to start a revolution of values through cinema.
Active Vista Films will be chosen by various NGO sponsors of the Film Festival and the Festival Committee based on the following criteria:
Exhibits consciousness of the craft of film making and cinema.
Must espouse a particular social cause (directly/indirectly).
If you want to your film to be included in the selection of 25 full length/documentary films or 10 shorts /animation to be shown in the Active Vista Film Festival, please submit the following:
a copy of the film on DVD
rationale/synopsis of the film (max. 2 paragraphs)
about the filmmaker/organization (max. 2 paragraphs)
Films that are chosen to be part of the Active Vista Film Festival will be notified through a formal invitation from the Festival Committee. Deadline of Submission is on October 18, 2008. You may submit your films via mail or in person at the DAKILA Office.
Call for Student Shorts
ALAB [blaze] aims to capture the idealism and intensity of student film makers on how they view the world in their young eyes.
This segment of the Active Vista Film Festival aims to feature 10 new short films made by students. Short films will be chosen based on the following criteria:
Exhibits consciousness of the craft of film making and cinema.
Must espouse a particular social cause (directly/indirectly).
Must not exceed 15 minutes (short feature or documentary).
All interested student film makers should submit the following on or before October 18, 2008.
a copy of the short film on DVD
rationale/ synopsis of the short film (max. 2 paragraphs)
about the filmmaker/organization (max. 2 paragraphs)
photocopy of valid student ID
Deadline of Submission for Student Shorts is on November 14, 2008. The ten selected short films will be notified through a formal invitation from the Active Vista Film Festival Committee.
Active Vista Film Festival
c/o DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism
14B Scout Limbaga st., Brgy. Laging Handa, Timog, Quezon City
Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong (The Road to Kalimugtong)
by Mes de Guzman
For Jinky and Potpot, life in Benguet is simply a trek to and from school. Every day, together with other children, they have to cross mountains, rivers and hanging bridges to get to their destination. They survive thanks to the work of their elder brothers, Manong Ramil and Manong Ronaldo, who inherited the task of looking after their siblings and grandfather on their parents' death. Both work for a mining company, leaving the younger brothers in their grandfather's care. But the elder brothers haven't been back for months. The film tackles the blatant ills of the Philippines' educational system and its surrounding issues on poverty without being too preachy. It is quite good that the film is narrated and is shown through the point of view of the children; and as such, the presentation of the issues is filtered by their inherent naivete and innocence, making the exercise a lot more palatable yet poignant.
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Ang Daan Patungong Kalimugtong
Mes de Guzman
3:30 pm
Hunghong sa Yuta (Earth’s Whisperer)
by Arnel Mardoquio
6:00 pm
Huling Balyan ng Buhi (Woven Stories of the Other)
by Sherad Anthony Sanchez
Sponsored by Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID) and Mindanao Peaceweavers
November 28, Friday
1:00 pm
My Fake American Accent
by Ned Trespeces (Cinemalaya 2008)
3:30 pm
Kabataan…Kinabukasan
Pepot Artista
by Clodualdo del Mundo
Pepot Artista is a comedy-musical that focuses on a ten-year-old boy whose dream is to become a movie star. Pepot, the dreamer, is surrounded by people who are equally dazzled by the movie world- from his own mother to the principal in his school to the impersonators in the neighborhood carnival.. Coming from a poor family, Pepot overcomes adversity to have a chance at fulfilling his dream. He tackles school bullies, a strict teacher, and an unwelcoming world that fails to comprehend his intense desire to become a star. The story happens in the ‘70s when superstars brightened the film world in Pepot’s country. The film explores the penchant of Filipinos for entertainment in the midst of serious social problems.
Pepot Artista
Clodualdo del Mundo
6:00 pm
Barako: Small time, Big time Politics
by Manolito C. Sulit
Sponsored by Coalition for A Citizens Constitution (C4CC) and Code NGO
3:30 pm
FIESTA VISTA
Ploning
by Dante Garcia
Sponsored by the Foundation for a Sustainable Society Inc. (FSSI)
The popular Cuyonon folk song, “Ploning” is the main inspiration for the film. It presents the story of a Cuyonon woman’s promise, her struggle with hope and love told from the point of view of a young boy. It is a loving tribute to small-town life, folk tradition and timeless tenets; its textured characters, each with an affecting story to tell; its private locales; its actors' deeply-felt performances; and its shared insights about the different forms of love that bind people to each other. All of these elements come to bear on the principal story of Ploning (Judy Ann Santos), a selfless woman who mourns a departed love but doesn't let her private grief prevent her from helping many others with their personal problems.
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Ploning
Dante Garcia
November 29, Saturday
1:00 pm
The Probe Team
Special Documentary Screening
Gintong Pamana (2008)
Gusto mo bang mag-migrate? (2004)
Sponsored by the TAPAT – De La Salle University
3:30 pm
ALAB
Anino by Raymond Red
TEN BEST STUDENT SHORT FILMS
“MAKILING MYSTERIES”
Live Musical Scoring
Philippine High School for the Arts Batch 2008
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Anino
Raymond Red
5:30 pm
STRANGEBREW
Sponsored by the Brewrats Radio
And 99.5 RT Rhythm of the City
Strangebrew was launched in early summer of 2001 on UNTV, and became a popular show among Filipino youth. It was hosted by Arvin "Tado" Jimenez, and Angel "Erning" Rivero. The show was directed by R.A. Rivera. The show also featured film makers Ramon Bautista and Jun Sabayton, playing odd characters. The reality comedy show features fun facts about how things are made in a factory, or making a movie. Trivial pursuits and road trip like episodes were produced, as means to make a transition from one topic to another.
Strangebrew
R.A. Rivera
7:30 pm
ISKALAWAG NIGHT
Special Performances
The Youth
Radioactivesago Project
Parokya ni Edgar
9:00 pm
BAYANI by Raymond Red
Sponsored by the San Beda Student Council – College of Arts and Sciences
On the eve of Bonifacio Day, we will be showing a re-mastered version of the film as it marks its 15th anniversary this year. Bayani is a tale about the rise, fall and resurrection of the "Katipunan" and its Supremo and a semi-biography of Philippine hero Andres Bonifacio. Noted for its heavy stylistics and painstaking attention to filmic detail, the biopic also tackles the momentous events surrounding the Philippine struggle against Spanish colonialism.
Bayani
Raymond Red
November 30, Sunday
3:30 pm
Kabataan…Kinabukasan
Bunso by Ditsi Carolino
Sponsored by World Vision
The film allows us to look into the bleak fate of children from the impoverished slums of the largest cities of the third world. The main character of the film is 11 year old Bunso, who is serving time for minor theft in the metropolis of Manila, in the Philippines. Together with Diosel, who is a few months older and 13 year old Tony, they are passed up against hundreds of adult prisoners in overcrowded cells, many of whom are sentenced for rape, murder and dealing drugs.
Bunso
Ditsi Carolino
6:00 pm
Tribu by Jim Libiran (Cinemalaya 2007)
Sponsored by the Global Call to Action against Poverty
and the Loyola Film Circle
The movie depicts, in graphic detail, the gang culture of Tondo, a Manila slum notorious for its chaos, filth, poverty and violence. The story is told from the point of view of a 10-year-old boy who witnesses the violence as a gang avenges the death of one of its members. The gangs call themselves "tribes," thus the title "Tribu."
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Tribu
Jim Libiran
8:30 pm
Namets
by Emilio “Jay” Abello (Cinemalaya 2008)
Namets is a colorful celebration of food as well as love, and the love of food above all, which is central to being Negrosanon and being Filipino. It follows the flirtation between Jacko and Cassie, two Negrenses who grew up in Bacolod, and whose lives revolve around food. The film is shot in Negros Occidental and the language is primarily in Hiligaynon, the language spoken in that region.
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Namets
Emilio “Jay” Abello
December 1, Monday
1:00 pm
Brutus by Tara Illenberger (Cinemalaya 2008)
Sponsored by the University Student Council University of the Philippines Manila
Brutus tells the tale of two Mangyan children, hired by illegal loggers to smuggle wood from the mountains of Mindoro, as they embark on a dangerous journey to deliver the goods to the lowlands. In the process, they discover a world run by the greed of men, a world governed by ideologies that bring about the armed conflict that plagues the Mindoro highlands, the home of their own people.
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Brutus
Tara Illenberger
3:30 pm
Manoro by Brillante Mendoza
Sponsored by Team RP
6:00 pm
Jay by Francis Xavier Pasion (Cinemalaya 2008)
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Jay is the name of the two protagonists in the film, one is living, the other dead. The living Jay is producing a documentary of the dead Jay, a gay teacher who was brutally killed. As Jay recreates and examines the life of his subject, his own life is affected when he unravels his subject's hidden life and secret love.
Jay
Franis Xavier E. Pasion
8:30 pm
Huling Byahe by Rom Dongeto
Sponsored by Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD)
December 2, Tuesday
3:30 pm
Pisay by Auraeus Solito (Cinemalaya 2007)
Pisay” relates the stories of eight Philippine Science High School (PSHS) students during the volatile 1980s when the Philippines was in its greatest moment in history- as the Marcos Dictatorship is ousted by the 1986 People Power Revolution to Cory Aquino's New Government- as they come of age in a time filled with excitement, conflict and change.
Robinson's Galeria
Indie Sine, Cinema 3
Pisay
Auraeus Solito
6:00 pm
Signos by Mike de Leon (World Premiere)
Sponsored by the POLITIKA – University of the Philippines Diliman
The assassination of Ninoy Aquino in August 1983, generally believed to be the work of the military, became a key moment in Philippine history for a renewed opposition to Marcos. In the same year, Mike de Leon made Signos (1983).
The film is an independent Brecthian styled documentary about the anti-censorship protest movement, labor and student rallies, and the funeral of Aquino. Signos is Mike de Leon’s first attempt at an explicitly political film and it is his first film outside mainstream cinema. It was produced on a limited and non-commercial scale by the progressive nongovernmental organization, Asia Visions, known for producing socially relevant films. The screening of Signos is a once in a lifetime chance to see an unreleased work of one of the most brilliant filmmaker that Philippine Cinema has produced.
Signos
Mike de Leon
7:30 pm
SALO-SALO VIDEOKE PARTY
8:30 pm
CLOSING FILM
Kakabakaba Ka Ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?)
by Mike de Leon
Ticket Price: P100/screening
For more details and a complete listing of the screening schedules/ activities, visit: www.dakila.org.ph, www.dakilacollective.multiply.com
or e-mail activevista.filmfestival@yahoo.com.
You may also reach us at 09054292539 or 5729180.
PELIKULA FILM SCREENINGS
Katuwiran, Karapatan at Kapayapaan [Justice, Gender and Human Rights, and Peace]
By presenting films that depict the on going struggle of our nation to achieve justice, gender equality,
respect for human rights and peace, we may be able to lay the foundation for an empowered citizenry.
Huling Balyan ng Buhi (Woven Stories of the Other) by Sherad Anthony Sanchez
Huling Balyan ng Buhi is a war film, one that doesn't relish in the flagrant violence and casualties but speaks of and for the lives that are ultimately affected. Sanchez's film, instead of relying on the traditional narrative, crosscuts between real-time sequences that is more telling of the currency of conflict than what is manufactured by the creative mind of a screenwriter, who mostly merely rewrites personal impressions of war or what has been published in newspapers. The stories are finally woven together not by the common considerations of traditional narrative but by an overbearing feeling caused by prolonged warfare where no bet can ever be capable of winning. The thread that finally connects everything is inevitable loss: of a mother we'll never get to know, of a real reason to fight, of the last balyan, the final bastion of a cultural identity.
Hunghong sa Yuta (Earth’s Whisperer) by Arnel Mardoquio
"Earth's whisper." The English translation of "Hunghong sa Yuta" — the title of Arnel Mardoquio's film about war and peace in Mindanao — easily cues us on how to read this story about a clutch of deaf-mute children in a mountain community consisting of Christians, Muslims and Lumads, and the teacher from the city who introduces them to the alphabet and numbers. War between rebels and the military has devastated the community of Hinyok, its most telling casualty being children born without the ability to speak and hear, and whose fathers are nevertheless intent on training them to become fighters to defend their land. Vigo Cruz, artist and toy-maker, answers a posted notice about Hinyok's need for a teacher, and his work with the children brings joy and hope to the young war victims and their mothers.
Kaunlaran [Social Progress – Poverty, Hunger, Health, Debt andIssues of Marginalized Sectors of Society] By featuring films that depict the struggles of the common man in a country that despite the promise of progress
has failed to provide children with quality education, families of decent shelter, workers of fair wages,
farmers with a land of their own, and majority of the population with dignity of life, we may be able to achieve
a national development goal that balances social progress with social justice.
My Fake American Accent by Ned Trespeces (Cinemalaya 2008)
The film is a slice-of-life workplace comedy following the lives of technical support call center agents in the span of six months. Speaking with a fake American accent is a prerequisite for the job. This ensemble comedy is an inside look into the maddening, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fuelled lives of those who ply their trade in the call center industry.
Huling Byahe by Rom Dongeto
“Huling Byahe” (The Final Journey) is a story of a young woman named Minda, an OFW returning to her tribal hometown after working abroad for six years—a chapter in her life that is shrouded in silence and from which she returned shaken and wounded. “Huling Biyahe” is a story of trials and courage amidst compelling issues confronting women—gender based violence, family planning, and migration. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Cordilleras and its colorful culture and rituals, “Huling Biyahe” is a film that behooves its audience to rethink harmony between customs/traditions and pressing, modern-day socio-economic issues.
Kasarinlan at Kalayaan [Democracy and Good Governance]
By presenting the formation of a young nation struggling to practice democracy and good governance,
we may be able to collectively transverse the road to nation building.
Manoro by Brillante Mendoza
A young girl tries to teach her elders a lesson about self-determination and respect in this drama inspired by actual events. The Aeta are indigenous people who have traditionally lived in the nation's mountain regions. However, after the eruption of a long-dormant volcano, an Aeta community is relocated to the nearby lowlands, and the children of the Aeta attend state-sponsored schools for the first time. Jonalyn is a 13-year-old girl who has just graduated from grade school and is eager to put her knowledge to use for the good of the community. When she learns that an upcoming election will choose the nation's new leader, she encourages the adults in her village to vote; however, she soon discovers that most of them can't read a ballot and have no idea how the voting process works. With the election only a few days away, Jonalyn organizes a crash course to teach the grown-ups in her community how to take part in the democratic process. However, not all of them are eager to learn, and when Jonalyn discovers her grandfather has gone missing during a hunting trip, she and her father set out to find him before Election Day rolls around.
Barako: Small time, Big time Politics by Manolito C. Sulit
Barako is a haunting account of a young man’s attempt to effect change in his town by gathering his friends around a kapihan called “barakuhan”. In the absence of media, it effectively becomes a venue for the townsfolk to practice their democratic rights, colliding expectedly with the elite’s political and economic interests. The movie starts glaringly with the American occupation of Batangas (early 1900) with the valiant Gen. Malvar and another local hero, Mateo Ilustre plotting its defense. It then takes us to a seemingly restive yet impoverished Batangueño community 100 years later, taking shifting points of view of the people from the grassroots, drawing them initially around one central figure, an unnamed character labeled only as the Publicist and later on, around yet another, Mando— referred to in the story (by the Publicist himself) as "ang tunay na barako".
CLOSING FILM
Kakabakaba Ka Ba? (Will Your Heart Beat Faster?)by Mike de Leon
Mike de Leon's wittily demented musical satire about Japanese yakuza, Chinese gangsters, bohemian hedonism, and the Catholic Church. “Undoubtedly, one of the finest Filipino comedy films ever made, KAKABAKABA KA BA is refreshing, literate, and very engrossing. It says more about our society than many of the so-called important films of recent vintage. In fact, it "was considered by critics as one of the landmark films of the 1980's in its absurd, comical, and irreverent treatment of an otherwise serious theme about foreign control of the Philippine economy… had to hurdle the censors, who originally sought to ban the film for its alleged racist attacks against the Japanese and the Chinese." [CCP Encyclopedia: Film]
The Probe Team
Special Documentary Screening
Gintong Pamana (2008)
In 1981, Berto Morales, a farmer employed as a bulldozer operator in an irrigation project in Surigao, struck gold. He discovered a treasure trove of gold ornaments while bringing down a hill to collect filling materials. The discovery, hitherto unknown to the public, is among the largest collection of Philippine archaeological gold in the country as well as in the rest of the world. PROBE reporter Cheche Lazaro searches for Berto in Surigao and from then on, she uncovers that Berto’s gold discovery takes many twist and turns -- involving threats to his life and family. With the help of historians and experts, Gintong Pamana reveals an amazing story about the Philippines’ forgotten civilization.
Gusto mo bang mag-migrate? (2004)
A first on Philippine television—get a glimpse of what reality has in store for those who seek that elusive greener pasture abroad. Probe Team artist-reporter Robert Alejandro returns from his grueling first 6 months in Vancouver, Canada and brings home a personal home video of his stay in the land of the maple leaf—from plunging to the depths of loneliness days after his arrival to apartment and job-hunting. Robert Alejandro is only one of the countless Filipinos who dare leave and try their luck elsewhere.
