Los Baños, Laguna – Along with Calabarzon-produced short
films in competition, Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival 2014 will
showcase award-winning full-length indie films during the three-day film festival
on Feb. 26-28 at the NCAS Auditorium in UP Los Baños.
The festival opens with Arnel Mardoquio’s Riddles of My
Homecoming, Special Jury Prize winner at the Cinema One Originals Festival in
Nov. 2013. Riddles also won four other major awards, including Best Production
Design, Best Music, Best Cinematography, and Best Director. The film stars
UPLB’s instructor and Pelikultura festival director, Ms. Madz Garcia.
Pelikultura 2014 is also proud to bring Lav Diaz’s Norte:
Hangganan ng Kasaysayan as the closing film on Feb. 28 at 1pm. It premiered as
an official selection in "Un Certain Regard" at the Cannes Film
Festival 2013 and won the top prize at the Nuremberg International Human Rights
Film Festival in Oct. 2013.
The heart of the festival is the showcase of short films
from Calabarzon and other regions. From among the 30 film submissions from
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, 10 film entries were shortlisted
for the narrative category, and five others were selected for the documentary category.
The 10 shortlisted entries for the narrative category are
the following: Jonathan by Rolson
Chester Ilao (Laguna), Sa Huli by Jerome Lingan Dulin (Laguna), Ngiti sa Piso by Domcar Calinawan Lagto
(Batangas), Pag ang Palay Naging Bigas
by Lexian Losley Avestruz (Quezon), Isang Karaniwang Kwento ng
Pag-Ibig by Steve Cardona (Batangas),
Puppy Love by Hector Lincallo, Jr. (Batangas),
Hula by PROMDi FiLMS (Batangas),
Tiya Bening by Ralph Aldrin Quijano (Batangas), Pag-ibig ni Angelo Guidoti by Ralph Aldrin Quijano (Batangas), and
Kuwento ni Buhol by Ronan Vergara (Laguna).
The following are five shortlisted entries for documentary
category: Ang Aking Inspirasyon by Al Geraldleo Laurio (Laguna), Ang Planta by
MSEUF BS Mass Comm 3rd Yr. (Quezon), Batang Padyak by Anjeanette Japor &
Natalie Mondejar (Quezon), Gulong by Angelie Mae Macalanda (Rizal),Ang Tanda
Kung Saan Napunta ang Mga Ngiti by Neville Carbon (Cavite).
The finalists vie for the following major awards: Best
Narrative Film, Best Documentary Film, and Best Director in both categories.
Other special awards for the narrative category include: Best Story, Best
Performance by an Actor and Actress, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best
Production Design, Best Sound, Best Original Music, and Most Gender-Sensitive
Film Award. For both narrative and documentary category, special awards will be
given such as Audience Choice Award and Special Jury Prize.
Short films in exhibition are also part of the festival,
which include those programmed in Cinema Rehiyon, an annual festival of
regional films sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
Moreover, seminar-workshops will also be part of Pelikultura
2014. Known personalities in the regional indie filmmaking industry will serve
as resource speakers namely, Teddy Co, co-founder of Cinema Rehiyon and film
programmer who will give a lecture on Film History and Appreciation on Feb. 26,
Director Arnel Mardoquio, who will be the resource person on Story Development
and Directing, and Director Ditsi Carolino, an award-winning documentary
director and producer who will give a workshop on Documentary Filmmaking Feb.
27. Lastly, on Feb. 28, Dexter Dela Peña, who worked in several independent
films as cinematographer, will give a workshop on Cinematography.
Admission to all screenings is free, except for the opening
and closing films. Tickets for Riddles and Norte cost Php50 each.
This year’s selection jury who shortlisted the films in
competition is composed of John Matthew Baguinon, an award-winning Laguna-based
filmmaker, Carmela 'Kame' Lagang, a full-time media practitioner of Southern
Tagalog Exposure (ST eXPOSURE), and Prof. Rudyard Contreras Pesimo from UPLB, a
multi-awarded animation artist and a professor of computer animation and visual
effects.
Now on its fourth year, Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film
Festival continues to provide a venue for Region IV-A’s budding and experienced
independent filmmakers to showcase their digital films that tell stories from
home. It is hoped that with these goals of the festival, filmmakers from the
region will be encouraged to continue their filmmaking endeavors and to
collaborate with other filmmakers to further enrich ‘Calabarzon cinema’.
This event is presented by NCCA, UPLB Foundation Inc., and
UPLB pelikuLAB in partnership with University of the Philippines Los Baños,
Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts, Southern Tagalog Arts Festival,
UPLB Gender Center, ST eXPOSURE, Canon, Rough Road Productions,
WhenInManila.com, UPLB-Anak, UP Caballeros, and UP Film Circle.
For more information and ticket reservation, please contact
pelikuLAB Secretariat at 09984344055 & 09053710186 or email at
pelikulab@gmail.com and visit our Facebook: facebook.com/pelikultura.calabarzonfilmfestival
