Text and Photography by Aidx Paredes

The Metro Manila Film Festival Screening Committee in partnership with the National Youth Commission Davao and Ateneo de Davao University conducted the new wave and cinephone category of the film fest last September 19 at the Finster Hall of ADDU. The event was attended by acclaimed movie directors Paul Soriano, Pepe Diokno and the winners of the first Cinephone Film Fest which happened last year.

The award-winning directors shared their experiences in filmmaking. Saying that all things start small, they have inspired the aspiring filmmakers to take little steps in making their dream films come true.





Director Paul Soriano talked about his recent collaboration with Hannah Espia for the award-winning film Transit. He shared his story about how Hannah Espia’s passion to tell a story made Transit and its recent achievements possible. Inspiring the students to not only dream and visualize stories, but to actually make these into reality through execution. He ended his talk with an announcement about Transit becoming the country’s entry to next year’s Oscars.





Engkwentro director, Pepe Diokno, conducted the second talk. He talked about the struggles of making films and being a filmmaker, getting examples from his own filmmaking experiences. Asking two important questions, Who is the character? and What is his story?, he shared a few steps on making filmmaking dreams come true. Towards the end of his talk, he showed behind the scene photos and videos of his up coming project with GMA.



The event was packed with students coming from different schools of Davao. With passion about film making, they have actively participated in the event. Asking questions about what matters shall make their films better. Although the directors were only able to entertain 5 questions, the students surely had more than enough dose of filmmaking inspiration.

The ‘MMFF New Wave Section’ is inviting all colleges and universities in the Region to join in Student Short Film Festival. This is an inter-collegiate competition that serves to encourage the Filipino youth to develop their creativity and originality in story-telling.

For coordination and inquiries, please feel free to contact NYC Davao Area Office thru mobile no. 09295439665 / Telefax No. (082) 305-7957 or email us at julgutierrez29@yahoo.com / nycdavao@yahoo.com.

In relation to the aforementioned, please feel free to visit www.mmda.gov.ph/mmff www.facebook.com/metromanilafilmfestor request the following competition mechanics and application forms thru NYC Davao Area Office:

1. MMFF NEW WAVE STUDENT SHORT FILM COMPETITION'13
2. MMFF New Wave Animation Category
3. MMFF CINEPHONE COMPETITION 2013
4. MMFF NEW WAVE FULL FEATURE FILM COMPETITION 2013
5. CinePhone 2013 OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM "A"
6. MMFF New Wave Feature Film Category 2013 Submission Form