Cinemalaya First Venture… Revisited

the world of cyberspace may implode any day and start to suck bits of virtual info including this one, so i’m posting this for posterity and inspiration. being executive producer teaches you to go for the essentials - artistry, integrity, the heart… wait who am i kidding? yes, winning is essential. very essential. and well, if you don’t win, there’s always artistry, integrity, the heart, etc. :) - dcm

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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2004

37 short films make it to Cinemalaya tilt

Updated 11:02pm (Mla time) Dec 03, 2004 
By Nestor TorreInquirer News Service 

NEXT February, the first Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival will unreel at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as mounted by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the CCP and the UP Film Institute. 

Its two competitions for new filmmakers, the full-length and short narrative tilts, are proceeding apace, the first having already chosen its 10 finalists, and the latter set to announce its finalists on Dec. 15. 

Unlike the full-length tilt, the short (20-minute) narrative competition is evaluating entries on the basis, not of their screenplays, but of the finished short digital productions themselves. 

200 storylines 

Almost 200 storylines were initially submitted for consideration, but only 37 finished movies were viewed by the board of judges. The jurors will select the 10 best short narratives, which will be screened at the festival in February. One winner will subsequently win the top P200,000 cash prize. 

The 37 short narrative films currently being screened by the board of judges are “Alimuom” by Rommel Tolentino, “Ang Kapalaran ni Virgin Mano” by Agustin Sugatan Jr., “Ang Manunubos” by Hector M. Fernandez Jr., “Aninag” by Rianne Hill Soriano, “Babae” by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, 

“Bedspacer” by Alessandro Quen, “Benny” by Lou Martin Lazaro, “Blood Bank” by Pam Miras, “Contre Temps” by Paul Morales, “Deadletter” by Grace Tagum Orbon, “Gantsilyo” by Mia A. Buenaventura, 

“Gift Wrap” by Bryan Lim, “Himpapawid” by Jose Milos Curameng, “Kanya-kanya Lang ‘Yan” by Lady Michelle Sering, “Kapitbahay” by Ma. Pamela Ovejas, “Kultado” by Lawrence Fajardo, ”Mansyon” by Joel Ruiz, “Marawal” by Valerie Rose Del Rosario, “Obit” by Melchor Escarcha, “Obra” by Chris Manjares, “Oras Ko Na Ba?” by Bert Sulat Jr., “Panaginipan” by Anna Isabelle Matutina. 

“Pearl Drive” by Kamil Roxas, “Pila” by Fernando S. Calleja, Jr., “Ritwal” by Lidyo Cyrus Celdran, “Sa Huli ang Dagundong” by Ronald Quimson, “Sabog at Gulaman” by Dodos dela Cruz, ”Sales Work” by Rhona Ramos, “Sikyo” by Frederick dela Cruz, “Sulat Ka Agad, Ha?” by Alan Olaco, “The Good Deed” by Ruth and Ruby Pe Palileo, “The Show Must Go On” by Bong Embile Jr., “The Ukay-Ukay Queen” by Ramon Felipe Sarmiento, “Third Person” by McMurphy Quito, “Tulak” by Celeste V. Lumasak, and “Una Madre” by Idda Aguilar. 

Narrative 

There have been many short film competitions in the past, but what what makes the Cinemalaya tilt different is the fact that it’s narrative oriented. This is because the festival would like to help discover film writers and directors who can “graduate” to mainstream filmmaking, where storytelling is the preferred mode. 

Since the mainstream theater circuit is where the bulk of moviegoers is to be found, new talents who start “short” but eventually go full-length will be able to connect with the greatest number of viewers, who will benefit from their fresh cinematic inputs. 

Let’s hope that Cinemalaya attains these laudable objectives. On Dec. 15, we’ll know who the 10 short narrative finalists are.

Just finished talking to friends about the enigma that is marriage.
It’s one of those rare events like THE proposal when although you’ve
prepped yourself up for this ONE moment, yet when THE moment arrives, you’re STILL - without miss - greatly overwhelmed, overconfused, overjoyed - all in one breath. And as much as we try to calculate hurts, compute risks, use geometry for all of love’s possible angles,  implement applied physics for some probable trajectory of how the marriage is gonna end or begin, we can never come up with a precise solution. We know marriage is not an exact science and yet strangely enough, we enter it thinking like it is. We orchestrate the wedding, manuever our spouse’s lives, children’s and even our dogs; we plan out our marriage from the cradle to its grave. We set parameters and treat any trespass, encroachment on our imposed boundary lines as criminal, an injustice, aggression, a ground for separation. And in all of these, we forgot why we got married in the first place; why we love.

And so I’m thankful.

Thankful that an age-old, sacred tradition, institution, event called love or marriage is inexplicable even to seasoned couples. It makes single people like me want to jump into it without having to know everything. It makes me wanna take risks and embrace imperfection. It makes it okay even when I don’t get my dream wedding, so long as I get the man of my dreams. The margin for error is as vast as God’s universe where pitch black darkness is oddly yet beautifully mixed with glorious shining moments that almost blinds you with joy.

And the best part is: you’ll never graduate from solving love or intimate human relationships. You’ll keep on calculating, extrapolating, getting the square root of it, finding permutations and combinations and yet the solution eludes you. But I think that’s the bigger adventure: we grow as we solve love’s problems and life’s. The goal after all is not to be smarter but to feel and believe more. And I guess that’s marriage: not groping or striving to “understand the heart” but to have a “heart that understands”.

“Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.”
-Albert Einstein

It’s confirmed. My mom’s in Facebook. In times past, this may be a prospect too horrific to divine: your mom knowing your status updates, your astutely suppressed dark side, your whereabouts (thanks to those ubiquitous “tag darlene in photo” function). But then again, perhaps there is redemption in this: I will now know her life like a seamless montage of pictures, statements, videos, commas and dashes in between. It would be like disclosing each others quasi-personal journals without incurring the pain and shame of having to explain oneself in person. Yes, I think I love having mom in Facebook. I just hope she doesn’t poke me or send Mafia Wars requests. I would irrevocably and seriously ignore her.

It’s still Christmas and I’m opening the first few pages of Vivian Gornick’s book “Approaching Eye Level”. Among others, it talks about the anatomy of loneliness; the limitations of friendship and intimacy. And THEN there’s Paranormal which is next in my movie playlist. This is so unhealthy. And to do so on Christmas day is suicide. Time for Peter Pan’s Lost Boys’ chant: Think Happy Thoughts. Think Happy Thoughts…..