First-time director’s masterpiece wins Best Picture in Cebu short film festival
The Tinago film crew consisting of (from left to right) Vincent Rey Wesley Banzon, Alessandro Greg Lopez, Zarah Abellana, Shanon Mangubat, Ronilo Nadonza, Charles Rocamora, and Kierven Mosqueda won Best Picture in the City Sports Club Cebu 1st Short Film Festival. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Maharlikan Productions
CEBU CITY, Philippines – – A story on the intricacies of falling in love and getting hurt won Best Picture in the recently held City Sports Club Cebu 1st Short Film Festival.
Entitled Tinago, the masterpiece was directed by Alessandro Greg Lopez, who also made his debut in directing a short film that was entered in a festival.
“We are all still very overwhelmed with the results. Honestly, we were very surprised. Our team did not have enough time to prepare for the festival so we did not expect this victory,” Lopez said.
The film, under Maharlikan Productions, also bagged the People’s Choice Award.
Lopez said the team only had two days to shoot the scenes and five days to finish the editing.
But Lopez said they worked hard and pushed along because they knew that joining the festival is another step to grow as better filmmakers.
“Tinago” features the story of Romeo and Juliet portrayed by Charles Rocamora II and Zarah Abellana.
Other stars in the short film are Lopez, Shanon Mangubat, Kierven Mosqueda, Ronilo Nadonza, Kyle Lawrence Linabog, Reynaldo Umpad, and Vincent Rey Wesley Banzon.
“Life is full of surprises. We must know what we are getting ourselves into and prepare for whatever lies ahead,” Lopez said on the lessons that viewers can learn from the film.
A native of Barangay Pasil, Cebu City, Lopez is a filmmaker, who also runs a T-shirt printing venture.
Another big winner during the film festival was Harold Ge Magsayo’s Pagsulay.
Pagsulay is a story about surpassing trials and being positive in life.
The film was produced under PRO Productions and bagged most of the awards including Best in Sound and Musical Scoring, Best in Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Actor, and Best Director.
Director Harold Magsayo (left) wins Best Director for his film, Pagsulay. In this photo he is joined by one of his audio crew, Richard King Visto. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
“This is an unexpected win since there are six other films (which are good). I felt excited and nervous. I cannot explain the feeling,” Magsayo told CDN Digital.
The story centers on Joven, which was played by John Braulio Lao, who lost his father when he was young and focused on doing good in school so he can find work.
Joven is a loyal and kind man who first fell in love with Mich, a character played by Corina Encabo.
Mich broke his heart but Joven eventually found love in Fate, which played by Charlotte Gonzales. Fate helped Joven to get him through the bad times.
Pagsulay is not Magsayo’s first directing project.
He directed several short films including Naa, Ambi Na, Singkos Brokenos, abd Lumipas.
The 23-year-old filmmaker is a native of Barangay T. Padilla, who is also into online business.
The Short Film Festival is organized by City Sports Club Cebu with Gala Awards night held on June 2.
The event aims to gather filmmakers in Cebu to showcase their creativity. This year, there are six entries who made it to the official roster.
Completing the six entries are the short films Pamati. Kahidlaw, Picture Frame and Home.
Picture Frame’s star Charito Abellar was the recipient of Best Actress award.
Abellar portrayed a mother of a child with autism, which was played by actor Dan Sy Lopez. / celr
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