In my spare time (like, in between jobs) I took a little detour to the UP Film Center to watch a handful of short films produced and directed by undergraduate students. It's a nice way to relax, the film center is air conditioned, and it's free! That's a lot of incentive, not to mention the fact that some of tomorrow's most talented local filmmakers will be taking their first steps here.
Sometimes I feel I'm running myself into the ground watching movies during every spare moment of my time, but what can I say. #YOLO.
Here are all six of the films I saw during my short time at the Film Center:
Sa Among Agwat is probably my favorite narrative film of the bunch. It's about a family on the verge of a major change, spurred by social and financial difficulties. It's a concept that's been explored before, but the level of filmmaking on display really elevates it beyond that concept. The film is generally well shot and the music hits all the right emotional notes.
Dimteng ti Lawag is about a young girl and a mother dealing with the disappearance of a loved one. It depicts bereavement in a very different manner, one that, according to the film's director, is commonplace in the fishing community where the film takes place. Though the film stars talented actors such as Art Acuna and Angeli Bayani, the performance of the child actor is particularly noteworthy. It's very subtle in its treatment, and that's something a number of other films can learn from.
Diwasanag is an animated film about... well, you tell me. It's pretty abstract, and it's better treated as an experience instead of something more tangible. The animation quality is tops considering a bunch of students did this.
Isa sa Sanlibong Alitaptap also deals with mourning, and fireflies serve as a motif this time around. But the film kind of loses focus halfway through, and the motif is too subtle to be picked up (it was said during the q and a portion that fireflies were visible even in the earlier parts of the film, but I didn't pick that up visually at all.) To its credit, the film is relatively well shot, especially during the final sequence.
The Good, The Bad and the Fabulous is the sole documentary of the six films that I watched. It's also my favorite film of the bunch, and it's now one of my favorite wrestling documentaries as well. It chronicles three female wrestlers from PWR (Pinoy Wrestling Revolution), exploring their individual motivations, aspirations and wrestling history. At a meta level, it breaks kayfabe and explores how wrestling is as much persona and performance as it is sport. This is a film that can find much traction in festivals, in my opinion, and it's a concept that can be expanded into something feature length.
And finally, Bangkang Papel has a clever conceit, in that real world math problems aren't going to be about a guy that steals forty cakes, but about a mom struggling to support her child from day to day with a meager catch of fish. The film, however, suffers from a bit of tonal dissonance: the film seems to be at odds with itself, with the music evoking some sort of exaggerated satire, while the rest of the film is relatively serious in comparison.
That's all I had time to watch. It was generally a positive experience, and I look forward to seeing more films at the center when they come. Till next time~
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