Student films at 17th CINE U feel human in the age of AI

CEBU, Philippines — Before they can walk on stage to accept their diplomas, many of the graduating student filmmakers of Cebu Normal University (CNU) had one last hurrah on May 17 at Cebu City Hall as they took home trophies at the 17th CINE U Film Festival Awards.

“This is going to be our last time participating in this festival,” Mark Le Boncales told The FREEMAN. He won Best Director in two categories: Pelikola’s UnBAKSing: A Queer Film Festival, and Green Screen: Gahi Ang Ugat, for the respective entries “Pin ni Ping” and “Trick or Trek”, both produced by Dibuho Productions.

With 38 short entries from student filmmakers at CNU and other universities across the country, the films shared a common theme of telling sociopolitical stories, whether through fiction, real-life narratives, infomercials, or music videos.

This aligned with the year’s theme, “Frames of Reality and Progressive Filmography,” which encouraged timely storytelling while also helping to lay the foundation for the graduates’ filmographies.

The organization’s head, Nina Honeilien Lumbab, told The FREEMAN, “This event shows the effort and passion of these film students while juggling their academic responsibilities. They are making movies as early as now so that they can build a strong filmography that, throughout the years, people can see that they had the talent and potential since their student days.”

“Pin ni Ping” focuses on the strained relationship between a gay student and his father, who once proudly displayed the child’s achievements on the refrigerator door. A series of incidents opens up a path to reconciliation.

“The story was inspired by a real friend, and we interviewed him about his experience,” Boncales said. “Kudos to our team because we made this in a month with so many revisions to the script and consultations with our professor, especially to LJ Biaño, who is our screenwriter.”

“Pin ni Ping” swept all 10 awards in the Pelikola category, including Best Queer Film, Best Director, Best Queer Actor for Jaymes Niño Nudalo, Best Screenplay, and the People’s Choice Award. Other entries in the category included Pagdawat by Josefina Films and Bilao by RJR Productions.

“Trick or Trek”, meanwhile, was born during a brainstorming session with their teacher, who chose it out of three story concepts.

The short follows a research student who hikes around a mountain in search of a plant and encounters a mysterious girl, sparking an infatuation.

"Trick or Trek" won four awards in the Green Screen category: Best Environmental Film, Best Director, Best Production Design, and Best Screenplay.

Alamat Film Production’s “We Were Here Where We Wear” by students from City College of San Jose del Monte in Bulacan, won three awards: Best Poster, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing. Their other entry, Tawag ng Kalikasan, won Best Sound Design. Vineyard Films’ Green Guimaras won the People’s Choice Award in this category.

In the main competition, Rosegail Ampalayohan won Best Actress in the Best Short Film category for her performance in “Umalagad” by Good Sheep Films. She plays a girl who joins a sisterhood that may be hiding sinister motives.

Other CNU winners in this category include Best Sound Design for “Umalagad” and People’s Choice Award for Circulo Production’s “Lost and Found”.

In the Music Video category, Lente Productions’ “Ayaw by Syd Hartha” won six out of eight trophies, including Best Music Video and Best Director for Keanne Marie Jandusay. The short visualizes the song’s powerful message on women’s empowerment and resistance against sexual violence.

Most of the winners in the main festival were entries from non-CNU students.

Agos Production’s “50/50”, by students from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, won Best Short Film for its relatable story about a student torn between pursuing his dream of becoming a filmmaker or fulfilling his father’s wish for him to become an engineer.

Alamat’s “Untitled” won most of the nine trophies in the Infomercial category, including Best Infomercial, while CNU’s “Lies Sell, Truth Struggles” by UNO Productions won Best Poster.

Best Documentary went to “Ino” by DN Productions from the University of Perpetual Help System for its hard-hitting depiction of a troublemaking boy who gambles, leading to an intervention from his parents.

Mapúa University’s Kuro-Kuro Productions’ documentary “Cinebuano” — which features the perspectives of Suzette Ranillo, Chai Fonacier, Grace Marie Lopez, Victor Villanueva, Keith Deligero, and Carl Lara on the history of Cebuano cinema —won three awards: Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Production Design.

Since its foundation in 2007 by Januar Yap, the CINE U Film Festival has served as an intercollegiate competition open to all students, with entries screened by CNU students before graduation.

With filmmaking students often using a single camera for multiple angles and working with limited resources, Lumbab hopes the public will recognize the hard work behind student cinema.

With the normalization of artificial intelligence in filmmaking raising questions about the role of human creativity, these filmmakers hope the festival becomes a reminder of the genuine human labor behind the stories.

“There are pros and cons, but I don’t support AI in filmmaking,” Boncales said. “We do interviews with our subjects, which AI can’t do. We tell real-life stories so that people can relate and raise awareness.”

Lumbab added, “Your inspiration as a filmmaker should be this: What is your goal, your mission, and objectives in making a film? What do you want people to learn from it? That’s what AI cannot do.”

All of the short entries from the CINE U Film Festival can be streamed on the organization's YouTube channel. — (FREEMAN)