Award-winning filmmaker Giancarlo Abraham has expressed his pride and admiration to a fellow filmmaker from Baybay, Leyte who was awarded a Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the recently concluded International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) in The Netherlands.
According to Giancarlo he is very proud of Paulie Patindol’s debut feature “I Grew an Inch when my Father Died.”
Here Abraham’s account about the film. “I haven't really talked about how proud I am of this debut feature film. It premiered at International Film Festival Rotterdam-IFFR, where it won the NETPAC Prize, and screened earlier this month at NIFFF (Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival). Remarkable for a film that grew straight out of the soil of Paulie's hometown.
“This is independent filmmaking in its purest form: shot entirely on an iPhone in Baybay, Leyte, with a cast and crew made up almost entirely of local teenagers from the community—no industry crew, just young people taking on every role, from acting to camera to sound. A truly collective work, shaped by passion and instinct.
“And since it can be strange to speak about one's own work, let me share with you some of the wonderful responses to the film:
"’A tender, haunting Philippine debut.’—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter; ‘An excellent debut and a truly different family drama.’—Panos Kotzathanasis, Asian Movie Pulse; ‘A deeply felt debut about the complexities of crime and inherited guilt.’—Srikanth Srinivasan, IFFR; ‘An astonishing and mature debut.’—Giuseppe Di Salvatore, Filmexplorer; ‘A visual revelation.’—Grégory Coutaut, Le Polyester.
“So proud of this film, and of everyone who made it.”
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews