Pelikultura 2014 showcases Calabarzon shorts, award-winning indie films

             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 byRolson 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 Buholby Ronan Vergara (Laguna).

The following are five shortlisted entries for documentary category: Ang Aking Inspirasyonby 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 forRiddles 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. RudyardContreras 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