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The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) launches a one-of-a-kind film festival today, August 25, called the Sine Halaga Film Festival.

The online film festival will kickstart with an opening program at 6:00 p.m., which will be streamed live on Facebook.

The Sine Halaga Film Festival will be showcasing 12 Filipino films that highlight cultural values and these movies will be available free on Vimeo OnDemand and the NCCA Learning Resources Hub website.

“This is for every Filipino around the world,” said the film festival's director Elvert Bañares.

The films featured in the Sine Halaga Film Festival will be tackling 19 Filipino values that were identified by the NCCA through the two-year research they conducted to reveal which values do the Filipinos value at present.

Some of the Filipino values that will be discussed in the films are personal values such as self-value, life and purpose, resilience, happiness, and social values including good governance, love for country, honesty, and integrity.

Plus, what sets Sine Halaga Film Festival apart from other film festivals is that the movies will be used as an educational tool in the classroom.

“It's what makes Sine Halaga unique from other film fests--the films used as a tool to teach Filipino values,” Bañares said. “We are organizing a series of webinars and preparing study guides to aid our teachers in discussing the films to their students. With the help of our teachers, we can articulate effectively the values that each film conveys.”

The 12 films in the Sine Halaga Film Festival were screened and selected by the jury from over a hundred submissions.

The 12 chosen films were then awarded production funds.

The members of the Sine Halaga Film Festival jury include NCCA Committee on Cinema chairperson Rolando Tolentino, film critic and educator Tito Valiente, award-winning Filipino filmmakers like Jeffrey Jeturian, Roy Iglesias, Sari Dalena, and National Study on Filipino Values author and lead researcher Arvin Villalon and co-author Jose Soliman, Jr.

The 12 films that will be showcased in the Sine Halaga Film Festival are the following:

• Bakit ako Sinusundan ng Buwan directed by Richard Legaspi
• Black Rainbow directed by Zig Madamba Dulay
• Dandanso'y directed by Rod Arden Condez
• Hadlok directed by Ralston Jover
• Looking for Rafflesias and other Fleeting Things directed by James Allen Fajardo
• Lorna directed by Noel Escondo
• Masalimuut Ya Tiyagew Ed Dayat directed by Jan Carlo Natividad
• Mina's Family History directed by Christopher Gozum
• Sa Balay ni Papang directed by Kurt Steven Soberano
• Salog ning Diklom directed by Jordan Jose Dela Cruz
• Ugbos ka Bayabas directed by Manuel Magbanua Jr
• 13 Feet directed by Carlo Obispo

The film fest organizers believe that the online streaming of these films is an effective way of promoting and instilling positive Filipino values to the younger generation.

Moreover, the launch of Sine Halaga Film Festival also perfectly coincides with the celebration of the Buwan ng Wika, which is observed every August.

For more lifestyle content, head out to GMA's Lifestyle page.

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