Franky Arrocena’s ‘Pakbet ni Mama Vinkie’ won First Prize at the recently concluded 7th Sorok Short Film Festival (SSFF) Awards Night held at the Metropolitan Theater, Manila on December 7, 2022.
Arrocena’s short film tells the story of a mute single mother, Vinkie and her son, Josh. While the story showed in length the boy’s efforts to help her mother around the house, it was later apparent that Vinkie was the one helping his son.
Angelo Fernando’s ‘Tay, Padala’ bagged the Second Prize and the Viewers’ Choice Award. Fernando also won Best Director for the said film.
John Paul Dabuet and Tonz Llander Are’s ‘Pasan’ won Third Prize.
The Special Jury Award was won by Manuel Betita’s “Solo”.
The 7th Sorok Short Film Festival entries featured “Singlehood: A Parent. A Child. A Journey”, dedicated to single parents whether they are widow/widower, adoptive, or surrogate parents.
Gina Marissa Tagasa, SSFF chairman and development head, described the film entries as “art with a heart”.
SSFF is a brainchild of Sorok Uni Foundation, a humanitarian organization founded by a veteran Korean ship captain, Jae Jung Jang, that started off serving the needs of Persons Affected with Leprosy (PALs) and has later extended its service to social and economic inclusion of other forgotten neighbors – the homeless and displaced families and individuals, underprivileged children and disadvantaged indigenous people.
The SSFF has produced multiple award-winning movies from amateur and professional filmmakers over the past years. It also aims to promote Filipino talents in the film-making industry and advocates in the promotion of social awareness in the Philippines. In addition, this year’s festival aimed to raise funds for the better nourishment of 209 Mangyan students from Inawa Panaynep Elementary School and 137 Mangyan students from Libagon Elementary School in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro.
