1st Saint Vincent College of Cabuyao Film Festival: Pedicab driver & fish vendors’ son to join Canadian int’l film fest

Early in the morning of June 16, Karl Jasper Barrio, 19, was already on the road driving his pedicab in Marinig, a coastal barangay in Cabuyao City, to earn his allowance for that night’s school activity. Hours later, at the 1st Saint Vincent College of Cabuyao (SVCC) Film Festival awards night, Jasper was on stage, in a daze, as he accepted his Best Actor award for the short film Padyak that his group made in my Art Appreciation class.

John Benedict Mirasol, 18, a son of fruit and dried fish vendors in Baclaran, also a coastal barrio in Cabuyao, could hardly believe his fate when his name was called to accept the Best Director trophy for Padyak. (He wrestled a tie with Christian Carlo Palomar, 26, a BS Business Administration student, for the Best Director award for the short film The Sin, a riveting story about perceived and absolute truth in search of justice. The Sin may perhaps be the modern God Sees the Truth, But Waits, a short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy.)

The winning poster of Padyak as adjudged by UP professor and political cartoonist Jose Santos Ardivilla

Benedict and Jasper are first year BS Criminology classmates at St. Vincent College of Cabuyao. Their film was one of the 28 short films submitted to me as their final output in class.

The two young, unassuming gentlemen were further in stupor when filmmaker Dante Nico Garcia, director of the much-acclaimed Ploning that starred Judy Ann Santos, and a judge of the SVCC Film Festival, announced on stage that the winner of a special prize called the PIFFmax award was Padyak. Garcia, convenor of the Palawan International Film Festival, is now focused on inspiring the youth from the barrios to produce 15-minute films that he will exhibit in his Philippine Independent Family Films and Media Arts Experience project (PIFFmax).

WINNERS ALL AT THE SVCC FILM FESTIVAL: (From left) Ryan Villaruel, Hazel Romero, Gabriel Chavez, Jao Cruz, Christian Carlo Palomar, Gillanheart Duenas, John Benedict Mirasol, Karl Jasper Barrio, Mark Anthony Gaza, Andrea Quideng Bangcod, Rose Marie Pollentes, Leira Delmundo, Christian Naper, Jhon Angelo Manangan and Joanna Visaya.

The PIFFmax Award comes with a grant to polish Padyak and that the short film of Mirasol and Barrio will be included in the collection of 15-minute films that will be shown at the PIFFmax Night at the Saskatchewan International Film Festival in Saskatchewan, Canada on Oct. 18.

“Pumapadyak po lamang ako kaninang umaga tapos ngayon may opportunity na akong pumunta ng Canada gawa ng movie namin (I was just driving my pedicab this morning then now I have the opportunity to go to Canada because of our movie),” Barrio said. Padyak is based on his life story and his struggles to survive.

“Tricycle driver po ang Tatay ko; tumatao po sa tindahan ang Nanay ko. Bilang tulong sa kanila, ako na po ang nagpapaaral sa sarili ko sa kinikita ko sa pagpadyak (My father is a tricycle driver; my mother minds a store. I help them in our daily expenses by sending myself to school from the money I earn as a pedicab driver).”

Mirasol and Barrio are on their way to secure their passports. This might be their passports, too, to life.

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It was clear in my mind when I taught Philippine Pop Culture and Art Appreciation subjects at St. Vincent College of Cabuyao that I would create a school-based film festival at the end of the semester.

The rules of the film fest were complex in their simplicity: no one else would be involved in creating a film except my 512 students themselves. From directing to acting, from scriptwriting to editing, from cinematography to sound engineering, from composing the theme song to singing the song — all were original, done by the students.

Halfway through the sem, I put my students’ mettle to the test after a lengthy discussion on creating a story, developing a script, telling a tale, character analysis, the importance of creating an original song, and more. I taught them everything I know about film, which were nuggets of wisdom I learned from my being a member of the Cinema Evaluation Board since 2005.

I further equipped my students with technical knowhow when I invited to class my good friend Dante Nico Garcia to discuss the rudiments of directing a movie, creating characters that the students know, editing a film that would tell a whole gamut of emotions in 15 minutes.

Next to lecture in my class — for half a day — was another friend, filmmaker Gino Santos, director of Ex with Benefits and The Animals. Gino taught them how to use a smart phone and DLSR camera to tell their stories, how to create a long shot, a medium shot, a tight shot. He pointed out the importance of a good editor and he taught them how to edit.

As if two film directors were not enough, Rellie Liwag, a close friend and a visual artist, also came much earlier to a face-to-face lecture in school on how art could be a medium to heal, to fix, to explore, to explain, to explode.

The 28 films they made were judged by the professionals in the film industry: Dante Nico Garcia, Gino Santos and Christine Dayrit, chairman of the Cinema Evaluation Board. Christine was the chairman of the board of judges for the SVCC Film Festival. She also gave a piece of jewelry from Miladay to Criminology student Rose Marie Pollentes when the latter won the Best Actress award for A Breadwinner’ Freedom.

Singer and stage actor Poppert Bernadas was the judge for the Best Original Song that went to BSBA student Leira del Mundo for Inosenteng Puso from the movie Halimuyak.

UP Diliman professor Jose Santos Ardivilla, also a printmaker, animator, writer and pollical cartoonist for a newspaper, was the judge for the Best in Poster Design, which was also bagged by Padyak.

My dearest friend Rachy Cuna, floral architect of the Philippines, designed the golden trophies for the first ever SVCC Film Festival.

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Here are the winners of the SVCC Film Festival:

• PIFFmax Award — Padyak

• Büm D. Tenorio Jr. Award of Excellence — Padyak

Chito Arceo Memorial Award — Padyak

• Best Film — A Breadwinner’s Freedom

• Second Best Film — Padyak

• Third Best Film — The Sin and Kubli (BSBA)

• Best Director — Christian Carlo Palomar (The Sin) and John Benedict Mirasol (Padyak)

• Best Actor — Christian Naper (Kubli-BSBA) and Karl Jasper Barrio (Padyak)

Best Actress — Rose Marie Pollentes (A Breadwinner’s Freedom)

• Best Original Song — Leira del Mundo (Halimuyak)

• Best Supporting Actor — Ryan Villaruel (Section Alpha)

• Best Supporting Actress — Leira del Mundo (Halimuyak)

• Best Original Screenplay — Christian Carlo Palomar (The Sin) and Andrea Bangcod (A Breadwinner’s Freedom)

• Best Story — John Benedict Mirasol (Padyak)

• Best Cinematography — Mark Anthony Gaza (Padyak)

• Best Film Editing — Hazel Romero (Section Aplha)

• Best Sound — Gabriel Chavez and Danielle Ricamora (Danney)

• Best Gender Sensitive Film (Kalabit ng Gatilyo)

Congratulations to the winners of the 1st SVCC Film Festival. *