CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Two entries in last year's CineKabalen Kapampangan short film competition are nominated in Gawad Urian 2013's short film category, according to a Kapampangan filmmaker.
Kapampangan filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana, in a statement, said that "5:00 Ning Gatpanapun" by Petersen Vargas, which won Best Picture in CineKabalen, and "Talamitan" by Kragi Garcia made it to the annual film awards.
The Gawad Urian Awards are given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (the Filipino Film Critics) and is currently regarded as the counterpart of the United States' New York Film Critics Circle.
The two Kapampangan films will be competing with the other short films from all over the Philippines and will provide exposure to the films’ production crew and directors.
Laxaman said that Vargas, who was a film student from University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, is a native of Apalit while Garcia is from Macabebe.
“Both filmmakers shot their short films in their respective hometowns in the Kapampangan language. ‘5:00 Ning Gatpanapun’ is a simple but stylistic film that follows a boy and a girl as they finally decide to meet. The story begins and ends when the hands of the clock point to five in a dusky June afternoon,” the statement said.
"Talamitan" is about three personages who discuss the roots of not only the flooding problem in Macabebe but also the social issues besieging both the community and the country, according to Laxamana.
CineKabalen is organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Foundation for Lingap Kapampangan, and Holy Angel University Center for Kapampangan Studies as one of the highlights of the annual Sinukwan Festival.
The festival aims to encourage Kapampangans to make films that promote Kapampangan culture, identity, and language.
The Kapampangan independent film "Manenaya” (Waiting) directed by Kapampangan Director and Unesco Laureate Awardee Richard Legaspi was also included in the Gawad Urian 2013. Manenaya is a story of a determined woman, and her journey through life under the backdrop of the various landscapes of Pampanga.
Legaspi, the director, is a Fine Arts major who studied advertising at the University of the East. He also graduated at the prestigious Asian Film Academy of Busan International Film Festival in South Korea. He has represented the Philippines in different international film festivals.
Legaspi also received awards and citations for his film “Ambulancia” starring Alan Paule; “Hand-Painted Feathers” with Bembol Roco and Katherine Luna; a Korean produced film entitled “Escape to Nothingness”; and his first multi-awarded full length film “Paano Ko Sasabihin” starring ABS-CBN “Katorse” talents Enchong Dee and Erich Gonzales.