Aspiring young filmmakers' short films featured in The Manila Film Festival
Photo Inside Page
Photos
The Manila Film Festival (TMFF) is back this year to showcase eight short films from student filmmakers this June.
With the theme called “Manila in Me,” the TMFF granted PhP150,000 to selected aspiring young directors to tell stories in short films. The participants were not limited to Manila residents only.
“The idea here is baka mas maraming kuwento ang puwedeng lumabas,” said Ed Cabagnot, the festival director, during a media conference held at the Manila City Hall recently.
He added, “The story of Manila is not just centered in this city. The story of manila is carried throughout the Philippines and even by Filipinos na hindi na lumaki sa Pilipinas. It's the story of the city in our minds. What you're seeing is just the beginning of what we hope.”
Cabagnot was impressed by the determination of the young filmmakers to tell their stories through their short films.
He said, “Makikita mo yung confidence ng mga bata when it comes to the power of the stories inside their hearts. There's just one thing in their minds, na kailangan makuwento ko 'to. I am just amazed these young people would stand up in front of total strangers and say, 'Ito po yung gusto kong gawin.'”
Watch the trailer of The Manila Film Festival here:
TMFF also invited four young filmmakers in the industry to create short films alongside the student entries. These are Pepe Diokno for Lumang Tugtugin, Sigrid Bernardo for Mary at Nila, Dwein Baltazar for Nananahan, and JP Habac for Shortest Day, Longest Night.
Meanwhile, four feature films will be produced by entertainment production studio Anima.
Kren Yap, Anima's head of creative development, said their group is proud to be part of The Manila Film Festival this year.
“Isa kasi sa core values namin sa Anima--not just as a studio but also as individuals working in the studio--ay bigyan ng boses at spotlight ang mga walang boses at walang spotlight, bigyan ng pagkakataon ang mga walang pagkakataon. So, isa ito sa mga nag-fulfill ng mga pangarap namin sa buhay sa taon na ito, ang makapagbigay ng ganung plataporma sa bagong filmmakers. We're always on the look out for new filmmakers,” he said.
He added, “We are very proud to be part of this festival we have eight new voices and filmmakers. Noong nakita ko yung trailer, nakakatuwa kasi back in our day when we were starting out, ito yung mga kuwentong, 'Sana makapagkuwento tayo ng ganyan. Sana masabi natin 'to.'
“Ngayon, parang bare minimum na sa mga kabataang ito, na 'yan na ang estado ng kakayanan nilang magkuwento. Para sa amin, it's a dream fulfilled even if it's not us working actively behind them. It's them fulfilling our dreams for the industry. That's something we're very proud to be part of.”
Meanwhile here are the eight student filmmakers and their entries in TMFF:
