Cinemalaya 2006 Final 10
Cinemalaya filmfest announces 10 finalists
[source: article by Nestor U. Torre of inq7.net]
Local movie buffs and new filmmakers are excited over the second Cinemalaya alternative filmfest, which unreels four months from now.
Who are the 10 new writer-directors who will each be given a seed grant of P500,000 by Tonyboy Cojuangco to demonstrate their ability as filmmakers, and to enrich viewers’ lives with alternative movies they wouldn’t usually get to see in the country’s more predictable mainstream cinema?
Entries
The 10 winners were supposed to be announced last month, but the members of the screening committee felt that some of the semi-finalists’ entries needed more revisions.
So, 15 scripts were first chosen, and their writers were given two more weeks to improve on their work, with valuable inputs given by the committee.
Some of the writers took the suggestions to heart and worked hard on their second drafts, so a number of them really improved.
Still, choosing the final 10 was no easy task, and a couple of otherwise worthy entries failed to make it because their exceptional promise in terms of concept and theme wasn’t substantially realized.
Teams
So, even if they didn’t make it to Cinemalaya, they could be improved on further and enter into other filmmaking tilts, or be self-produced by their filmmakers and their respective teams of backers.
So, who did make it? In alphabetical order: “Ang Huling Araw ng Linggo” by Nick Joseph Olanka. About a pyramiding scam and the lives it affects.
“Ang Ngipin ni Doring” by Dado Lumibao and Bong Ramos. About the female boxing circuit.
“Batad, Sa Paang Palay” by Vic Acedillo Jr. and Benji Garcia. About the clash between tradition and modernity in the Cordilleras.
“Donsol” by Adolfo Alix Jr. About the tourists, whales and townspeople in a town where whales are frequently sighted.
“Isang Ikot ng Mundo sa Rotonda” by Byron Bryant. About bisecting lives and downbeat incidents circulating around the fulcrum of a busy intersection.
“Larombata” by Khavn dela Cruz. An animated film about the “lives” of toys and games.
Epiphany
“Lima” by Arah Gell Badayos. A middle-aged woman has a belated epiphany about her roles as wife and mother.
“Mga Anino sa Apuhap” by Domingo Lazam III, Ronald Verzo and Sigrid Andrea Bernardo. About subjective love, truth and infidelity in the world of the blind.
“Saan Nagtatago si Happiness?” by Florida M. Bautista and Real Florido.. About the quest for elusive happiness in the world of the misbegotten.
“Tulad ng Dati” by Michael Sandejas. About the local band scene, as vivified by the “rebirth” of The Dawn.
It’s hoped that some of these film projects will match the high level of achievement established by the first Cinemalaya movies, like “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros,” “Pepot Artista” and “Big Time.”