Short film of young Cebuana filmmakers part of Sine Kabataan 2019 roster
Cebu City, Philippines—A comedy-drama which tackles mental illness made it to the official roster of Sine Kabataan 2019.
Young Cebuana filmmakers Johanna Valdez and Elle Ubas confirmed to CDN Digital that their short film, “Pinggu, Pwede Na?” is part of the ten entries in the prestigious competition.
Sine Kabataan 2019 is a short film competition of Pista ng Pelikula ng Pilipino (PPP), which runs from September 13 to 19, 2019.
“As humans, we are born with fear and indecision. The audience will relate to Yums, with her longing and desperation of doing something but being afraid of the consequences of her decisions,” Valdez said of the short film.
The story centers about a depressed teenage girl who lets her stuffed toy penguin named Pinggu and her paper-filled jar decide whether or not she kills herself.
“Depression can come in many forms and even in ways that do not seem significant or obvious,” Ubas said.
“Pinggu, Pwede Na?” is headlined by Yomeh Dacullo and Vhinz Dacua, who play Yums and Kuya Bins, respectively.
The film is directed by Valdez and Ubas. Ubas is an Advertising Arts student while Valdez is an Interior Design student at the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus.
It was Ubas who wrote the story based on her actual stuffed toy penguin named, Pingu.
According to its official page, Sine Kabataan provides a platform for the youth to voice their stories through film.
“Pinggu, Pwede Na?” is not Valdez and Ubas’ first short film that they produced.
This is Valdez her second film project after “Manok Manok Mikoy,” which bagged Best Story Adaptation, Best in Editing, and Best in Cinematography during the Mugna: Take One at the SM Seaside City Cebu in December 2018.
Just like Valdez, Ubas also had an entry during the Mugna: Take One titled, “Padayon” which won Best Short Film, Best Sound, and Viewer’s Choice Award during Mugna: Take One in 20
Ubas also helmed “Hope List for the Hopeless” which won first place during a video-editing contest for Mental Health Awareness Month at the USC October 2018. /bmjo
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
