MANILA, Philippines - The Sixth Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival opens at the Shang Cineplex of Edsa Shangri-La Plaza mall today and will run until Nov. 16. It will be formally opened at 5:30 p.m. via a simple ceremony to be hosted by Gretchen Fullido and attended by the participating filmmakers, their cast and friends. Its equally awaited awards night will be held on Nov. 14 at the Dolphy Theater of ABS-CBN.
Spearheaded by Cinema One and helmed by its director for Programming Ronald Arguelles, the festival is part of the ongoing 16th anniversary of Cinema One. “This year, Cinema One Originals proudly presents seven daring new films, all of them different in form and style, but sharing a unique awareness of what it means to be Filipino in this day and age,” according to Arguelles. The festival will also award its Cinema One Original Tribute to filmmakers Celso Ad Castillo and Lav Diaz. Danny Zialcita was its first recipient.
Chosen through careful deliberation from over 100 entries, the seven finalists possess liberating out-of-the-box storytelling. They have potentials to open a new genre or combine genres and make names for its directors, writers and actors. The finalists are Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria; Third World Happy; Astro Mayabang; Dagim; Ishmael; Tsardyer; and Layang Bilanggo.