By Stephen J Pedroza
Expect Cagayan de Oro City to be flooded with filmmakers this week.
Independent moviemakers across the Philippine archipelago have converged as the Arts month’s biggest gathering of cinematic storytellers, 6th Cinema Rehiyon, kicks off today, Feb 18, under the auspices of Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan through Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA).
The film harvest dubbed as “a detour from the Manila-centric movies” is one of the few festivals in the country seeking to educate and empower the Filipino audience with regional stories, pride for local culture and artistic works that exist outside the realm of the capitalistic mainstream cinema.
From professionals, students, experimental and full-lengths, the event offers a total of 98 films, the highest number of entries since its inception in 2009. The movie screenings run for 5 days, from Feb 18-22 at three different venues simultaneously—Xavier University Little Theater (XULT), SM City Cagayan de Oro Cinema 3 and 4.
“Cinema Rehiyon 6 features filmmaking frontiers that could give positive impact and transform our lives for the better. These films will educate us about disaster risk reduction management, climate change, cultural solidarity and other societal issues,” Hobart Savior, XCCA director said on this year’s theme, “Filming the Frontiers.”
Over the years, Cinema Rehiyon has attracted a growing number of storytellers, especially the students all over the regions to express their ideas through films.
“Why can’t we tell our own story? Why does it have to be Manila-made?” challenged Dr Miguel “Mike” Rapatan, chairman of the National Commission on Cinema, adding that today’s generation must produce stories with logical sense and social relevance.
Cinema Rehiyon forms part of the Philippine Arts Festival (PAF) celebration, “Art on the edge” of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), in line with Presidential Proclamation 683 of 1991.
Emerging talents
Among the most anticipated films this year is “Ang Walay Kahumanang Adlaw” (Infinite Sun) which director Glenmark “Marky” Doromal described as a love story close to the experimental genre with many metaphorical elements and patches of memories.
Considered one of the country’s emerging talents, Marky started his filmmaking stint during his high school years at Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT).
“I was in high school when I made my first film, “Sealed” together with classmates, as a requirement for a subject. It was not perfect; I had a lot of flaws directing my first short film at a very young age,” he recalled.
“Nonetheless, I wanted to showcase my wildest imagination for an ambitious project. It gave me more than what I expected. It served as a launch pad that gained me a scholarship at De La Salle - College of Saint Benilde for a filmmaking program (BA Digital Filmmaking), after joining Cinemagis and Cinema Rehiyon in 2010,” added Doromal who graduated last year.
Cinemagis Short Film Festival in Northern Mindanao was crafted in the same year as Cinema Rehiyon and top student filmmakers were offered scholarships to pursue the craft of filmmaking.
19-year-old Marky admits he is still building his own aesthetics in gradual pace and keeps himself open to experimenting with various techniques, depending on the demands of the story he wants to tell.
“Filmmaking is very tricky and you could think of a thousand ways to make a film. Right now, I am closer to utilizing visionary or very imaginative elements like there’s some kind of adrenaline to my films … because my heart is in science fiction ever since I was a kid,” he said.
True enough, Marky’s first ever love story shot in Iligan City reaped a rundown of awards during the 2013 Mindanao Film Festival in Davao City where it won Best Film, along with 5 major awards.
Recently, it garnered the awards for Best Actress and Best Production Design at the Nabunturan Film Expo (Simballay Festival), also in Davao City, and 3rd Place Short Fiction at the 25th Gawad CCP for Alternative Film and Video.
London-educated filmmaker, Gray-em Erezo, joins this year’s fest with “Lugdang” (Drowned), inspired by a distressed girl he met in CDO’s Divisoria in 2012.
“She was like mentally drowned,” Erezo emphasized. “I used the word ‘drowned’ because she was drowned physically, mentally and emotionally. She could not even talk. She lost her family during the flash flood brought about by [Typhoon] Sendong.”
For tackling the aftermath of the catastrophe, “Lugdang” received the 2014 Cinemagis Special Jury Award for Social Responsibility on Climate Change.
A mosaic of different cultures
With screenings expanding every year, local audiences are also growing to match the rise in film quality.
The festival also features a menu of seminars and workshops for aspiring moviemakers and actors in CineLikha with veteran actors Leo Martinez and Rez Cortez as resource speakers and mentors.
This year’s CineTalakayan focuses on the fusion of DRMM and films to compliment the CineBarangay film-showings to be held in two communities ravaged by Sendong, Brgy Balulang and Xavier Ecoville, the XU-led resettlement village in Brgy Lumbia.
“Part of CineBarangay is giving the communities a multimedia forum on climate change resiliency and disaster risk reduction management,” Savior added.
Moviegoers are only required to bring personal care items for their admission to the screening venues, which will be donated to the Yolanda-lashed places in the Visayas.
This event serves as a platform for filmmakers not just to come together but also to share common struggles and challenges and interact with their audience.”
In the face of globalization, both Dr Rapatan and Savior believe that the interest for regional films among Filipinos must be ignited and rekindled.
On top of the concerns of the Philippine independent filmmaking industry is how to engage the younger generations to Cinema Rehiyon and the other festivals alike.
“We are a mosaic of different cultures and we should showcase that to our country,” Dr Rapatan stated.
“We need to get the word out that our culture— the Filipino culture— is much more complex, much more diverse and richer than those being shown in the commercial films.”
For more information about the festival, you may visit cinemarehiyon.com.