55 films compete in 2013 Mindanao Film Fest

“Bumper crop of films.” That is how festival director Rudolph Ian Alama describes this year’s Mindanao Film Festival (MFF), now on its 10th year.

 

“We have 55 films which will be exhibited in the festival. These include three feature-length productions and 52 short films,” said Alama.

 

The 55 films eclipsed last year’s number of 30-plus films. 

 

Aside from films from Davao City, there were also a number of submissions from different parts of Mindanao, particularly General Santos, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Butuan and Zamboanga. 

 

“This goes to show that regional filmmaking is growing and that growth is being sustained,” Alama pointed out.

 

From December 4 to 10, the public can watch these locally produced independent films at the Gaisano Mall Cinema 5 in Davao.

 

The festival, which is Davao’s contribution to filmmaking as an art, is organized by the Mindanao Film and Television Development Foundation Inc. and supported by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).   

 

“The festival is a mirror of how Philippine cinema is evolving, particularly the growth of regional filmmaking, from a Manila-centric film industry towards becoming an archipelago of imagination,” Alama explained.

 

This year’s theme is “Style Nato” (our style). “We picked this as our theme because we aim to recognize the different styles of our filmmakers. We have regular participants to the festival and they already had that certain distinct filmmaking style,” he said.

 

This year’s 55 films are divided into seven categories.

Four films from the host city will be shown under Davao Directors’ Showcase: “Alaala Alley,” “Afterdark,” “Feel,” and “Ang Wig ni Happiness.”

 

A lot of submissions came from the Ateneo de Davao University, produced by students and faculty. The category Sine-Atenista is divided into two batches. The first one, called “Matina Cut,” features “Sugat,” a feature-length digital movie. The second, “Jacinto Sequence,” features selected eight short films from ADDU college students. These are: “Kintsugi: The Art of Breaking,” “Impermanence,” “Stationary,” “Paglaum,” “Habambuhay,” “Sister,” “Morose,” and “4 O’Clock.”

 

Also participating are filmmakers from other schools such as Philippine Women’s College, Holy Cross of Davao, University of the Immaculate Conception, and the University of Mindanao. Their films are featured under the Escuela Cinema category: “Parisukat,” “Dalan,” “Lamaw,” “Belinda,” “Mizaru,” and “Karakterwrayter.”

 

Films produced by students from the University of the Philippines-Mindanao are lumped together under the category dubbed UPilms: “The Claim,” “Indie to Mainstream,” “Uli,” “Paraphilia,” and “Deadline.”

 

“Film Across Mindanao” exhibits movies produced from outside Davao City. They are divided into two groups: the Northwest Passage (coming from Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, and Zamboanga) and Down South (South Cotabato, Sarangani, and General Santos). There are four films in the first group (“Con Enfermedad y Buen Salud,” “Ang Hele ni Ryanne,” “Estrella,” and “Wonderful Nightmare”) while the second group has only two (“Pasko” and “Ika-3 Putahi”).

 

There is a section called Crossing Borders which is for films shot in or about Mindanao done by filmmakers based outside the region. The films in this category are: “Lupang Pangako,” “Strawberry and Durian,” “Baybayong Birhen,” “Ang Walay Kahumanang Adlaw,” and “Pigadagit.”

 

This year’s festival also features documentaries that tackle rebuilding after the onslaught of Typhoon Pablo (“Rising Up After Pablo”), the plight of cleft palate children and the interventions done (“Allaisah”), and the call for fishery conservation (“Bugsay”).

 

Seven films are shown under The Guerrilla, The Filmmaker category: “This Ring,” “Panalipod Onlyn,” “Dapaw,” “Halin,” “Diskonek,” “Lutaw,” and “Panyawan.”

 

Under the Davao Pop Cinema category – a selection of films celebrating local pop culture, featuring comedic shorts – these films are listed: “Bit by Bit,” “Goodnight,” “Malasado,” and “Who’s the Girl.”

 

For the first time, MFF recognizes the growing Mindanaoan animators with a special section for animated works. Eight films are shown under Animation ni Bay: “The Mouse Who Could Fly,” “The Imagination of Mr. Reil,” “Levantha Rise and Build,” “The Land of Promise,” “Alamat ng Araw ng Gabi,” “The Last Letter,” “Life is Beautiful,” and “Timora Talli Apuera si Ramil.”

 

The MFF started in 2003, then known as the Guerrilla Filmmaking Workshop Festival, whose entries were mostly done by Guerrilla Filmmaking Workshop participants. In 2005, it established its open non-workshop category and in 2006 it formally adopted the name Mindanao Film Festival. It is considered as the country’s longest-running regional film festival.

 

Aside from the settings and stories, the movies produced in the MFF “provide a window to the region from where the film is produced. That’s the hallmark of a regional film,” Alama said. —KG/VC, GMA News