Cinemarehiyon: Binisaya film festival

CEBU, Philippines - The local filmmakers of Cebu will be holding a film festival dubbed “Binisaya Film Festival” or “Binisaya”. “Binisaya” is a film exhibition especially created to present the emerging wave of new Cebuano films to Cebuano audience and at the same time, to create a culture of cinema in Cebu.

The first “Binisaya” exhibition was held October 30, 2009 at Turtle’s Nest featuring “Uwan Init Pista sa Langit”, “Mga Damgo” and “Yawyaw”. It was then followed on December 2 and 3, 2011 at the College of Fine Arts and Architecture Theater, University of San Carlos and became the first exhibition of Binisaya in a festival featuring short and feature length films from Cebu with guests from Manila and Davao.

“Biyernes Biyernes”, (One Day, One City, Seven Stories) a full-length film made through the collaborative efforts of seven local filmmakers became the featured film and was featured in BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation’s) Fast Track and was shown at the Yerba Buena screening room in San Francisco, California last 10 June 2012.

“Binisaya Film Festival 2012” will be the second exhibition of Binisaya in a festival format featuring short and feature length films from Cebu with guests from Manila, Davao and one foreign film this coming October 5, 6 and 7, 2012.

“Binisaya 2012” will start its campus tour through “Lakbay Binisaya 2012” in order to ensure a wider audience; it will start in Ateneo de Davao this coming August 13-14, 2012 upon the invitation of Ateneo Film Circle and Studiobugsy and will “Lakbay” around Cebu’s colleges and universities.

Submissions to the “Cinemarehiyon: Cinema in the Regions [Binisaya Film Festival]” must be narrative fiction; 10-20 minutes (including opening/closing credits); dialogue should mainly be in Cebuano; with English subtitles; open theme but preferably should tackle Cebuano life, culture, and experience. Winners will represent Cebu in the forthcoming Cinemarehiyon 2012.

“Binisaya 2012” is supported/partly funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). Part of the proceeds of the said festival will go to the “Promoting Human Rights in the context of HIV/AIDS” prevention activities of Bisdak Pride, Inc. and will also be used to train emerging indie film makers in Cebu through the Binisaya Movement.

The three-day event designed to showcase short films, narrative, documentary and music video from participating universities and colleges in Cebu. For more information, email [email protected] or [email protected].