Cebuano films at The New Filipino Cinema Festival

CEBU, Philippines - The third edition of The New Filipino Cinema Festival held in San Francisco, California has in its line-up a short film by former The Freeman photojournalist Aldo Nelbert Banaynal, and a full-length documentary that tackles the backyard gun-making industry in Danao City, Cebu.

Banaynal’s 2013 clay animation “Happy The Emotional Dog’ (Happy Ang Emo Nga Iro) is about the happy and not-so-happy life of an adorable little pup. It has a running time of 15 minutes and is set to be shown on June 13.

“No End In Sight” (Walay Tumoy na Punterya) by Cierlito E. Tabay is described as an unsettling 2012 documentary that provides an intimate view of the world of illegal backyard gun-making in Danao. The makers fashion pistols, rifles, and even submachine guns out of scrap metal, often using only basic hand tools, and then sell them on the black market. It has a running time of 83 minutes, and will be screened on June 14.

Other works scheduled for exhibition are films by Raya Martin, Jerrold Tarog, Alvin Yapan, Erik Matti, Brillante Mendoza and Peque Gallaga.

The festival will run from June 11-15 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and will show all works digitally in their original language with English sub-titles.