Now on its fourth Year, Cinema One announces the seven finalists for the 2008 Cinema One Originals. This time having no particular theme for screenplay writers and budding filmmakers to work and be guided by, these final seven stories carry diverse stories that tap and create new genres that reflect Cinema One’s wide niche market that successfully capture various segmented audiences.
The finalists are: Dose. In the eyes of a child, love knows no age or gender—an intriguing yet heartbreaking tale of love and romance between a gardener and a 12-year old boy by award-winning writer and director Senedy H. Que. Director and writer Ruelo Lozendo helms Kolorete. In the time of friars and landlords a town is mounting a tour de force performance to change the course of history. Continuing his triumph in the independent and digital film circuit after the success of Huling Balyan ng Buhi in Cinema One Originals 2006, Sherad Anthony Sanchez directs Imburnal. A childhood drama set in the slums of San Antonio, Davao, where manhood and society are explored and become interspersed. Television show director Roman Carlo Olivares ventures for the first time in film-making with UPCAT. Carrying the tagline ‘Ito and mga kuwento ng Sukatan, Pasikatan, at Shaded Circles,’ this teen comedy parlays the different student characters plus their angst, who shape the State University. Rider and motoring enthusiast Karlo de Guzman writes and Jon Red directs Motorcycle. This family drama is a story of a motorcycle ride to Ilocos by a son, as instructed by his father whereby, the main character’s memories ironically run in reverse, slowly uncovering keys to their past. Yanggaw by director Richard Somes is a family drama where amidst the happy moments, bitterness gets unearthed. Alon by director Ron Bryant and co-writer Raymund Gerard C. Cruz is a tender tale of love between a sad man and a lonely girl.
Set in Agno, Pangasinan, the film is a meditation of love and the sea.
Deliberated through and chosen from over 100 submitted manuscripts and concept storylines by a select group of panelists, each of the seven finalists will receive a one million peso (P1,000,000) grant to cover their entire production cost from filming to production of final movie. Last year’s big winner was the film “Confessional,” which featured an all-Cebuano cast and was largely shot in Cebu during the Sinulog season.