Taas pasahe bubusisiin ng LTFRB

After months of deliberating and looking all-over the world for inspiring stories about the Global Pinoy, the country’s Numero Uno movie channel has finally chosen five finalists for the third annual Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival.

When Cinema One announced the opening for submissions for the much-awaited digital film fest with the theme, “Ang Kuwento ng Pinoy sa Buong Mundo,” Filipinos here and abroad participated.  From 130 entries, the selection was cut down to 22 semi-finalists who went through several screenings and presentations, until the five promising finalists were selected. 

Viewers are up for an exciting lineup for this year’s indie festival.  Cinema One offers a variety of genres and an impressive set of filmmakers. 

The collaborative effort of commercial director Ruel Antipuesto and musical composer Jerrold Tarog (Kubrador, Masahista), who are both Cebuanos, Confessional is also one of the finalists in this much-awaited movie festival.  It is a dark comedy about a small-time filmmaker about to witness a life-changing confession from a retired politician. 

Lawrence Fajardo makes a comeback from last year’s competition with his entry: Raket ni Nanay, which was also included in Cinemanila’s Digital Lokal for that year.  His new entry, Sa Ikawalo tells the heart-wrenching story of longing and obesity: an OFW rarely seeing his daughter, and the child battling with anorexia and obesity. 

Inang Yaya co-directors Veronica Velasco and Pablo Biglang-awa comes up with another beautiful story as one of the entries, Maling Akala – a romantic-comedy film with a twist of drama coming from the lead role’s pressing homosexual issues. 

Giving a different take on Philippine horror and the supernatural is Rico Maria Ilarde’s (Shake Rattle and Roll 2K5, Babaeng Putik, Dugo ng Birhen, Sa Ilalim ng Cogon) Altar, a terrifying movie about a retired boxer working as a carpenter in a haunted and cursed mansion. 

Finally, fresh from his victory in the film Donsol, veteran writer and director Adolfo Alix Jr. gives us a raw drama about poverty, guilt and redemption.  Tambolista, an intimate portrait of two brothers struggling with deprivation, completes our list of finalists for the 2007 Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival.  

“After a successful series of Cinema One Originals for the past two years, the third annual digital movie festival is set to be bigger, starting with the budget of One Million Pesos (P1,000,000) for each film, as compared to the seven hundred thousand budget (P700,000) in the previous years.  So expect better, exciting and magnificent films with this year’s Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival,” says Cinema One channel head Ronald Arguelles.   

The Third Annual Cinema One Originals Digital Movie Festival is set to run on November 2007.