About the Event
In line with the celebration of the Arts Month, film scholars, artists, enthusiasts, and filmmakers from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) and other regions are gathering once again for Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival 2018 on February 19-21 at UP Los Baños. Now on its 8th year, the festival ties up with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) as it continues to provide a platform for aspiring and budding filmmakers from Region IV-A and across the country.
With this year’s festival theme, “Imagining Landscapes Beyond,” Pelikultura seeks to showcase the narratives that weave the diverse and vibrant culture nestled in the urban and rural spaces of Calabarzon. Pelikultura strives to nurture a ‘Calabarzon Cinema’ for the entire country and the whole world to see, and has featured short films that have even received critical acclaim abroad, such as Wawa (2015) by Anj Macalanda and Nakaw (2017) by Noel Escondo and Arvin Belarmino.
The festival kicks off with a General Education forum on Regional Cinema on Feb 19 at 1PM, REDREC Auditorium, UPLB. Renowned film scholars Prof. Patrick Campos from University of the Philippines Film Institute and Dr. Paul Grant from University of San Carlos, Cebu will deliver their lectures on ‘Regional Cinema as National Cinema’ and ‘Regional Cinema and the Limits of National Cinema,’ respectively.
The highly-acclaimed documentary feature The Crescent Rising (2015) directed by Sheron Dayoc will be screened as the festival’s opening film on Feb 19. The public is also invited to join the film directing workshop to be facilitated by award-winning Mindanaoan filmmaker Arnel Mardoquio from Feb 20 to 21, 9AM to 2PM. Meanwhile, multi-awarded writer-director Sherad Sanchez will give a talk on ‘How To Watch A Film’ on Feb 20, at 2PM. The festival closes on Feb 21 with the special screening of Kidlat Tahimik’s Turumba (1981), which follows the story of a family of craftspeople during the seasonal Turumba festival in Pakil, Laguna.
With a record-high total of 122 short film entries received this year, the festival will showcase a total of 25 films in competition (open and student categories). The jury members for the short film competition include Prof. Patrick Campos, filmmaker and lecturer Adjani Arumpac, and director-writer Charliebebs Gohetia. The best film from each competition category will bring home Php10,000 and other special awards.
Films in competition may also be shortlisted in the Calabarzon program of Cinema Rehiyon 2018, a national film festival of regional cinemas to be held in Manila in February. These chosen films will be screened along with other outstanding films from other regions and filmmakers may also become official delegates to Cinema Rehiyon where they can meet their fellow regional filmmakers and some film festival programmers.
Special Exhibition Program for this year will showcase 9 short films from Filipino filmmakers based in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and New York, USA. Meanwhile, students from Los Baños will present their own artworks for the #BuhayElbi category, which aims to feature the diverse culture of Los Baños.
Admission to the film screenings and regional cinema lectures is free. Limited slots only for the workshop and forum. Aside from these activities, the festival will also feature Los Baños-based artists through their cultural performances, spoken word, and zine exhibits.
Interested parties may visit Facebook page www.facebook.com/Pelikultura/, reserve tickets thru http://bit.ly/pelikultura2018 or contact pelikulab@gmail.com // +63915-888-7118 // +6349-536-9259 for more info.
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Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival 2018 is presented by UP Los Baños and PelikuLAB, the media arts division of Samasining, Department of Humanities-UPLB, in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). It is part of Cinema in the Regions, the flagship program of the NCCA Cinema Committee that highlights independent films produced in different regions as alternative cinema.