Filipino filmmakers now have another platform to showcase their projects.
Mobile service provider Globe invites filmmakers to join the Globe Independent Film Festival (GIFF), an online competition for short films that will culminate this November 2016.
GIFF is the country's first online short film festival spearheaded by Globe Studios, the telecom network's entertainment production arm.
The short film fest was officially launched last September 1 at the Globe Iconic Store in Bonifacio Global City.
In an interview with PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal), Globe Studios Head Quark Henares summed up what people can expect from the film fest that aims to advocate Filipino talent.
He explained, "It's basically a completely online, and a completely mobile film festival where you can watch the shorts not on the theater but like on your phone or computer or laptop."
The film director said that this is part of the telecom's campaign to promote local talent and original content. Quark explained, "We really believe in the next generation of filmmakers and this is our way of kind of like celebrating new talent."
He added, "We really want to empower young filmmakers, the next generation because this is a new platform—digital—so we're gonna go there. Diyan pupunta so it's to move forward."
Aspring contestants can submit entries to these genres: Narrative, Documentary, Animated, Experimental, Music Video, and Webisode. Each genre will have a winner that will receive a cash prize of P200,000.
The winners will be announced at the culminating event of GIFF in November 2016.
For the launch of the short film festival, Globe invited five directors to create short films for a special showcase.
These short films are Trapik by Dan Villegas, An Open Door by Paul Soriano, Ang Painting ni Tatay by Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, How To Find Love by Quark Henares, and Beshie by Bb. Joyce Bernal.
In a separate interview with PEP, Direk Paul lauds the telecom company for supporting local filmmakers through this initiative. "I think it's a great initiative. Anytime there's a venue or an opportunity to tell a story, it allows filmmakers like myself to make it and execute it."
The Kid Kulafu director continued, "One of the hardest things for filmmakers is to get the funding, to get the backing to tell a story. I really believe a lot of filmmakers or people that want to make films, stories are there. We have stories, we're inspired by stories of today. It's just that when we get the funding, that's kind of the difficult part. So, the GIFF gives us that opportunity and the funding to tell our stories. I'm excited for my short film entry here."
Aside from granting the funds for the short film festival, Direk Paul also expressed his gratitude to Globe for giving him the freedom to pursue what he wants for his project. He explained, "What I really like about Globe is that when they called me up, I pitched in my idea. They liked it, they gave me the funding, and I gave them the film. It's exactly like that and they gave me 110% of the freedom."
He added, "It's very rare that filmmakers get that kind of freedom but Globe gave it to me so I took the opportunity and I believe that the short film is very successful."
Here are the five shorts films presented at the launch of Globe Independent Film Festival:
AN OPEN DOOR. Directed by Paul Soriano, this short film starring Anita Linda revolves around a Nazi Holocaust survivor from Israel who took refuge in the Philippines at the time of President Manuel Quezon.
Direk Paul pointed out that this is is his way of honoring the late president for rescuing over 1,300 Jews.
"It's an homage or to pay tribute to President Manuel Quezon. In 1939, before World War II, he saved over 13,000 Jews from the Holocaust by bringing them to the Philippines, giving them refuge in the Philippines," the film director/producer told PEP.
He continued, "I kind of give a little homage to that. It's a story close to my heart and I really believe it's because of what President Quezon did before World War II that the Philippines and Israel today are very, very good friends."
STOP. STEADY. SAYAW. Dan Villegas shows an unlikely friendship formed between two people who got stuck in traffic. His short film stars Angelica Panganiban, Pepe Herrera, and Jake Cuenca. In an interview with PEP, Direk Dan recalled how he conceptualized the film, "Parang na-obsess lang siya sa idea na kung ano yung gagawin mo 'pag nasa traffic ka. So from there, jinamming namin, usap-usap, ganyan."
He continued, "Tapos ayun, nag-ano kami, what if kumakanta ka, may sinasabayan kang song sa traffic tapos paglingon mo, yung nasa kabilang kotse kinakanta rin yung same song so you're on the same station. Tapos ayun, dun na siya [nabuo]."
HOW TO FIND LOVE: THE SEPTEMBER 2016 EDITION. Quark Henares discusses the new generation's way of looking for love in his short film titled How To Find Love: The September 2016 Edition. His short film stars Gwen Zamora, Gee Canlas, Alex Medina, and Jeff Flores.
Quark told PEP, "It's about the new modern ways of finding love like kasi before, you meet someone and you ask for a date, call them, then maging kayo. But no it's so weird because you have Tinder or you'll like have yourself tagged on Facebook or message someone on Twitter, so the rules of finding love now is so different, I guess."
ANG PAINTING NI TATAY. Sigfrid Andrea Bernardo's short film is titled Ang Painting Ni Tatay starring Francis Mata, Alvin Maghanoy, and Jose Antonio Buencamino. The short film features the heart-warming relationship between a struggling painter and his deaf son named Dakila.
BESHIE. Bb. Joyce Bernal will make viewers laugh and cry in her short film titled Beshie starring Eugene Domingo and Andoy Ranay. In the film, Eugene's character is about to meet her boyfriend whom she met online. She seeks advice from her gay best friend (played by Andoy Ranay) on how to prepare for their first meeting in two weeks.
As the story progresses, Eugene's character gets broken-hearted after finding out about her boyfriend's wife. Andoy's character comes to her rescue and the two ended the night by having drinks.
For more details about the Globe Independent Film Festival, visit http://www.GlobeStudios.ph.