CORDILLERAN filmmaker Julius Lumiqued won big in the Cinemarya Women's Short Film Festival, clinching the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) advocacy award for his film "Dad-aan Na - Her Walks."
Lumiqued said Dad-aan Na is the story of an Igorot elderly woman who, while cooking lunch, suddenly hears distant explosions that triggered her to go out of her home.
"We aimed to give light to the emotional turmoil of mothers whose sons and daughters are in the frontlines of armed conflicts, whether of the government or of the rebels, to an unnecessary war where only families are at loss in the death of a loved one, it will also give light to the diaspora of people from the far-flung areas, many due to the continuing struggle to improve the lives in the countryside affected by insurgency," Lumiqued said.
Lumiqued dedicates the film to Antonia "Odallay" Langiden Legoen-Cobcobo, his mother, to whom the story was inspired from.
"Do not be afraid to venture on something different/new. No matter what age you are. There was a call for submissions and I just submitted the story. It was like a try-lang thing. I did not expect to get in to Cinemarya and, eventually, come up with my own short film. Hence, this is my first short film as director," Lumiqued's message to struggling filmmakers.
Lumiqued's win was commended by the Baguio City Council and the City Government.
"I am technically not a film professional as I am an Engineer by profession. But because of interest in film, I got swayed in. Prior to Dad-aan Na, I did co-write a few short films, do production design for some infomercials, and produced/co-wrote a full length, all of which were sparked by interest and not of what I went to school for. I began writing Dad-aan Na as a full length in 2015," he said.
The filmmaker acknowledged the help of the DILG through Marjorie Jalosjos, Asec, Film Development Commission of the Philippines; Chair Mary Liza Dino-Seguerra; and Quezon City Film Development Council for coming up with Cinemarya Women's Short Film Festival; DILG for the DILG Advocacy Award; the Mountain Province Police Provincial Office, headed by former PD PCol Clarence Casilio; and Procor for the support during the shoot. The Besao local government unit, headed by Mayor Johnson Bantog II. The Department of Tourism-CAR, headed by OIC Jovi Ganongan. SPCAR-One Cordillera Pasakalye Group of Artists. Am-among Organization in Western Australia, all staff and Crew of Dad-aan Na. actors, Julia Agnaonao-Baeyens, James Yodong Jr., Tara Natividad, Jerry Busacay.
Cinemarya is bankrolled by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, the Quezon City Film Development Commission/QCINEMA and the Philippine Commission on Women.