Cinemalaya Short Feature Entries: Programme B
Posted by Juan Miguel Sevilla on Monday, July 18, 2011 in Cinemalaya, Film Festivals, Trailers
From biting satire to a dystopian view of the future, this year’s diverse selection run a gamut of genres, proving that they have no problem standing alongside their lengthier counterparts. Here’s a quick rundown of the Cinemalaya shorts films featured in this year’s Programme B:
HANAPBUHAY
(dir. by Henry Frejas)
Advertising veteran Henry Frejas directs this quirky comedy about a simple man trying to eke out a living for his family. Beautifully shot, the film carefully observes the Filipino make his way through life and argues that death is really not something to be feared. It’s all just a matter of perspective.
OLIVER’S APARTMENT
(dir. by Misha Balangue)
Shot in New York, an obsessive-compulsive germaphobe lives his life on the dot. The arrival of a postcard serves as a threat to his routinary lifestyle. Making good use of its environment, the film is a quiet, often poignant, portrait of loneliness in the big city.
IMMANUEL
(dir. by Gio Puyat)
Set in a dystopian future, a young family struggles to live in a world where oxygen is rationed and people are forced to work in factories to harvest oxygen. The film posits a world where our morals are challenged in the name of survival. The film manages to create an effective, believable environment, alarming in how similar it is to ours in the present.
DEBUT
(dir. by Pamela Llanes Reyes)
Filmed in beautiful B&W, Pam Reyes’ film tells the story of a young girl as she prepares for her eventual destination. Handled with great sensitivity and care, it’s a quiet, affecting story of a girl’s journey from the comfort of her home to an unknown, terrifying reality.
HAZARD
(dir. by Mikhail Red)
Hazard tells the story of father teaching his son how to drive in the outskirts of the city. The discovery of another car in their vicinity and what’s inside fuels the tension between father and son, each forced to make their own decisions leading towards a gut-wrenching finale that should leave you at the edge of your seat.
Header image from Immanuel
