1st Bacolod Film Festival to help discover talented Negrense, Bacoleño directors and actors
BACOLOD, Philippines – The Bacolod Film Festival (BFF) maiden edition officially began on Thursday, September 12.
Ten local movie finalists produced, directed and starred by local talents in Bacolod and other parts of Negros Occidental will be shown for four days at local theaters in two giant malls in the city until on Sunday, September 15.
These include:
- A Flower A Day by Chelsea Tasic
- Aninaw (Preview) by Charlene Mae Tupas
- Blind Date by Juan Carlo Migiel Araullo
- Glub by Reginald Amador Zack Verzosa
- Laragway sa Karon (Portrait of Today) by Mary Pauline Santos
- Manokan Country by Banjo Hinolan
- Pili Na, Diche Lesly by Willbryan Garcia
- Sa Pwesto ni Pistong (In Place of Pistong) by Vincent Joseph Entuna
- The Mansion by Oscar Villanueva
- Chicken Inasal (Grilled Chicken) by Georgia Mari Elardo
Each film runs from 15 to 20 minutes.
Judging will be held on Saturday night, September 14, and will be helmed by five judges: film critic Phili Cleah; multi-awarded movie producer, director and writer Joe Javier Reyes; film and TV producer Josabeth Alonzo; award-winning director Lawrence Fajardo and film critic and professor Wanggo Gallaga.
Highlight of the BFF will be the awarding night for the winning films, actors and actresses, among others to be held at Cinema 1 of SM City Bacolod on September 15.
Winners will receive cash prizes and trophies courtesy of the city government of Bacolod.
In an interview with Rappler on Wednesday, September 11, Councilor Em Ang, chairperson of the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on history, arts and culture, and author of the BFF Ordinance, said the local film fest is part of the city’s initiative under the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA) with fund support of P2 million from the Department of Trade and Industry’s Lunsod Lunsad Project.
The 10 film finalists, Ang said, were chosen out of the total 32 entries submitted to the BFF screening committee in July.
Then, each of the producer/director of the 10 film finalists were given by the city government P300,000 as fund assistance to enhance the quality of their creations.
These are the young and talented yet untapped film enthusiasts in Bacolod, waiting to be discovered. Ang said the gist of the BFF is really to discover Bacolod’s potential in the field of film making/production.
“We want to discover the likes of the famous Negrense and Bacoleño directors and actors such as the late Peque Gallaga, Joel Torre, among others,” she said.
“We do hope that with this maiden BFF, some or all of the movie finalists will be spotted and picked to join any international film festivals sooner or later,” said Ang.
Ang confided that she had already saw the preview of the 10 movie finalists and “all is superb.”
“You will never regret watching them all,” she assured.
Meanwhile, movie tickets for BFF will be sold at P200 instead of the usual P260, with the city government subsidizing P60 for each ticket.
The P200 provides entry for the five short films. To further promote the festival, moviegoers also have the chance to win cash, and mobile phones, with the tickets serving as raffle entries.
Ang said three will win P100,000 each, and two will win iPhones.
The raffle prizes are courtesy of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez using his personal funds. – Rappler.com