Nat'l indie film fest in Bacolod

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — This city will host the 4th Cinema Rehiyon, also known as the National Independent Film and Video Art Festival, on February 8 to 11, one of the national events of the month-long Philippine Arts Festival held every February or the National Arts Month.

Cinema Rehiyon will screen 68 short and full-length films from budding filmmakers across the country, 21 of them were made by filmmakers from Luzon, 29 from Visayas and 18 from Mindanao, said Dr. Miguel Rapatan, head of the National Committee on Cinema (NCC) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA).

These films will be shown in Robinsons Bacolod Cinema 4 for free, with Tagalog subtitles, Rapatan said, adding that 10 Bacolod shorts will open the festival on February 8.

One of the full-length features is “Busong” by Palawan’s Auraeus Solito recently recognized by The Wall Street Journal as among the 10 best Asian films in 2011. On February 11 while Jay Abello’s “Pureza,” a full feature documentary on the sugar industry in Negros, will cap the festival screenings.

The Cinema Rehiyon, bearing the theme “Empowering the Regional Cinema,” is a non-competition festival that features screenings and forums that focus on the artistic endeavors in cinema from the regions, Rapatan said.

This will give budding regional filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their unique culture through films set in their respective regions, and shot in local languages, a fresh take on indie filmmaking, he said.

Renowned filmmaker Peque Gallaga, who is a Negrense and whose short film, “Tamawo,” will also be shown at the Cinema Rehiyon, said the most important purpose of filmmaking is for the people to “tell our own story” thereby “discovering our own identities.” - THE FREEMAN