When the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival went on digital last year, it signaled a global affair of one of the most awaited local film festivals in the country.
As it was, the whole world had witnessed the live streaming of all the entries to the 16th Cinemalaya edition.
This time around, on August 6, 2021, the Cinemalaya 17 will once again be viewed worldwide on its online platform.
It will get through all the places in the whole world once a common man/viewer logs and presses its digital screening button.
Even the remotest corner of the Philippines can witness the historical significance of Cinemalaya as it goes through every house which has computer gadgets and apps like Vimeo or Kumu or other live streaming platforms.
According to Laurice Guillen, President of Cinemalaya Foundation, she has prepared the festival to once more invade the digital world.
It is a challenge in these difficult times but the contents of fest are worth all the adjustments because aside from the thirteen (13)—it used to be only ten (10)—short films there are other visual feasts like reruns of award-winning Cinemalaya movies of past editions, screening of movie gems from foreign countries and awarded videos from the Alternatibo film contests of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), film labs to be facilitated by Jose Javier Reyes and other industry experts from abroad, the ongoing scriptwriting workshop of Ricky Lee etc.
To guide the audience in the choice of their viewing fares, here are the 13 competing shorts in this year’s Cinemalaya:
“An Sadit na Planet (The Little Planet)” by Arjanmar H. Rebeta; “Ang mga Nawawalang Pag-asa at Panlasa (The Lost Hopes and Flavors)” by Kevin Jay Ayson; “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi” by Shiri de Leon; “Ate O.G.” by Kevin Mayuga; “Beauty Queen” by Myra Aquino; “Crossing” by Marc Misa; “Kawatan sa Salog (A Toy in the River)” by Alphie Velasco; “Kids on Fire” by Kyle Nieva; “Looking for Rafflesias and Other Fleeting Things” by James Fajardo; “Maski Papano (I Mask Go On)” by Che Tagyamon and Glenn Barit; “Namnama eng Lolang (Grandmother’s Hope)” by Jonnie Lyn P. Dasalla; “Out of Body” by Enrico Poe and “The Dust in your Place” by David Olson.