by Stephen Pedroza
Xavier University through its Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA), in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Xavier Science Foundation (XSF), XU National Service Training Program (XU-NSTP) and SM City Cagayan de Oro held the 5th CINEMAGIS Short Film Festival on January 24-26 at the XU Little Theater and SM Cinema 2.
“This year’s CINEMAGIS festival is a continuation of the celebration and fostering of the filmmaking potentials of Northern Mindanao and, hopefully, put the region on the map of Philippine film industry,” said Hobart Savior, XCCA Director.
The event provided student and professional filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their short films touching on various themes and social issues, such as cultural differences and stereotypes, environment, substance abuse, comedy and young love, and be recognized for their work. Out of a good number of filmmakers from all over Northern Mindanao who submitted their works, 10 official entries (five from the Student Category and another five from the Professional Category) were shortlisted for the awards.
Festival Winners
The CINEMAGIS Awards Night was held on January 26 at SM City Atrium. Admission tickets came in the form of personal care items to be donated to typhoon victims in Compostela Valley.
Tutob (Skullcap) by Krissza Mari Campano of Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) won Best Short Film-Student Category. It garnered six awards, the most in the whole Festival, including Best Director, Best Art Direction, Best Sounds Scoring, Best Editing and Best Actor for Fer Mykiel Gonzales.
Kunhod (Dwindles) by Jasmine Limas of XU Development Communication was chosen the 2nd Best Short Film in the same category and also reaped the award for Best Cinematography.
The 3rd Best Short Film-Student Category went to Kuris (Fate) by Frenz Dale Magno of MSU-IIT College of Medicine. The film also won Best Story, Best Poster and Best Actress for Almaerah Sohranisa Limgas.
Agents by Giojoe Amoguis of Cagayan de Oro College- PHINMA Education Network won a special award as the Audience Choice and the Best Trailer. Ragnyl Romero, one of its cast members, was selected as Male Star of the Night.
In the Professional Category, Wonderful Nightmare by Gray-Em Erezo won the Best Short Film, including Best Director and Best Sounds Scoring.
Dedangerz by Yvette Marie Sabellona received the 2nd Best Short Film, along with awards for Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Actor for John Quinones.
HD by Cloyd Winstanley came in 3rd. It also won the Best Story award. Mary Koren Witting, one of its cast members and also one of the actors in “Wonderful Nightmare,” was chosen as Female Star of the Night.
Guano by Javey Martinez won the Best Editing award for the professional category.
The Stepping Stone
CINEMAGIS served as the springboard for short films coming from Northern Mindanao to compete in the 5th Cinema Rehiyon, the national film festival organized by the NCCA. Tutob, Wonderful Nightmare and Kuris were chosen to represent Region 10.
Cinema Rehiyon is the flagship project of the Cinema Committee of the NCCA’s Sub-Commission on the Arts spearheaded by Dr. Mike Rapatan. It forms part of the Philippine Arts Festival in celebration of February as the National Arts Month. This year’s Cinema Rehiyon will run from Feb 5-8 at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna.
In addition to giving Northern Mindanao filmmakers national exposure, CINEMAGIS also aimed to encourage more young people to make films that will “reflect reality.”
To this end, Gutierrez “Teng” Mangansakan II, one of the festival jurors and archivist for Mindanao films, conducted a two-day filmmaking workshop at the XU Little Theater.
“To start making a film, you have to be confident with your story and make it visually coherent,” he said.
“Unlike other workshops that I conducted, there are a lot of potentials and innate storytellers in this group,” he added, referring to the high school and college students who actively participated in the workshop.
Qiyamah (The Reckoning) by Teng Mangansakan II was aired at the Little Theater on January 24, during the movie and press presentation. His movie portrays an occurrence of the sun rising in the West in a remote village, which for the Islamic belief, indicates the Apocalypse or Qiyamah. Its cast members include Bein Ali Unayan, Mayka Lintongan and Dax Alejandro, among others.
His film won the Grand Jury Prize and Best Cinematography at the Sineng Pambansa National Film Festival sponsored by the Film Development Council of the Philippines.