Filipino teens at Asian International Children’s Film Festival in Japan

MANILA, Philippines - Nine Filipino high school students, who represented the Philippines at the Asian International Children’s Film Festival 2014, have returned from the recent Asian International Children’s Film Festival in Japan.

The students — Jay Domingo, Jeremiah Lanot, and Vincent Perez of Tanza National High School; Amber Emilia Acosta, Kyle Shaniel Robles, and Kimberley Sanchez of Diliman Preparatory School; and Angela Joi Caquilala, Riel Amadeus Diala, and Alexandra Noelle Lumagbas of Makati Science High School — stayed in Japan for eight days, during which they travelled from Osaka to Minami-Awaji and Kobe City in Hyogo Prefecture as part of the festival program. The group visited key regional attractions and engaged in different cultural activities on the days leading to the festival’s Final Awarding Ceremony held on Nov. 29, at Minami-Awaji City.

The Philippines’ official entries to the film festival were Mangangalakal, a film by students of Tanza National High School that tells the story of a young boy who is determined to pursue his dream of becoming an engineer despite his family’s economic difficulties; My Dream: Tomorrow and Forever, created by students of Diliman Preparatory School, about a little girl’s tale of self-discovery and spiritual growth; and An Artist’s Dream, a stop-motion film on using art as a means to raise environmental awareness, produced by students from Makati Science High School.

Of the three, My Dream: Tomorrow and Forever received the Shoreisho: Encouraging Award in the international event.

This year’s Philippine entries to the festival were selected out of  81 student-produced films submitted to the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) and the National Youth Commission (NYC) in September.

Now in its eighth year, the Asian International Children’s Film Festival serves as a platform for creative expression, encourage cultural exchange, and strengthen international ties among the youth of ASEAN and Japan by allowing young students from these countries to share their thoughts on certain universal issues or subjects through short videos. This year, the festival centred on the theme “My Dream.”