2nd Puerto Layag Film Festival

The covered court of Barangay Puerto has been humbly set up for the night. A projector and a screen was up, sounds systems were in place, the chairs were set and basically it is ready to roll. June 20, 2015 was the night of the 2nd Puerto Layag Film Festival. Five entries are vying to be on top. Prestigious judges were deliberating on who they will choose as winners. As the sun goes down everybody were waiting for the films to be shown and anticipating who will be awarded as the best for this year’s contest.

The Puerto Layag Film Festival on its second year is a continuation of a dream that Barangay Chairman Christian Rustico Achas wants to bring to his constituents, the role of art in bringing change to his Barangay. He believes in the potentials of his youth to make films that have significant message, that can inspire the viewers and uplift their spirits. Capitan Achas is hopeful that together they can sail (Layag) for the progress of their Barangay by empowering the imagination and putting hope in the people.

This film festival is open to all directors from all over the region provided that the cast of each film must have a Puerto resident and the film must portray positive values. The entries for this year’s Layag Film Festival are; “Joogs” by Diego Carampil Jr. It is a story about a transgender who wants to find a place in the society. “Lucid” by Cloyd Winstanly, is a story about a person who is trapped within his realization if he is in a dream or in actual reality, this entry garnered the best actor/actress award, best director award and best cinematography award. “Dalan” by Camille Louisse Jumamil is a story about two friends who were drug addicts who were found by a kind hearted person which changed their lives dramatically. “ Modus” by Paul Anthony Galupo is about an syndicated operation of human trafficking which ends with a twist, and the last entry is “Online” by Mario Christian Micabalo, this is a story about cyber addiction and the dangers it pose. The covered court was filled with people, and every time local actors were being shown hysteria broke down. The event was a success that it stirred inspiration and discussions among the viewers that they might join next year’s contest or that they might expect more from their friends to be seen on the big screen. The winners for the 2nd Puerto Layag Film Festival; third place wining a trophy and cash prize of 5,000 pesos goes to “Joogs”, second place wining a trophy and cash prize of 10,000 pesos to “online” and the first place wining a trophy and cash prize of 15,000 pesos goes to “Dalan”. This activity was brought to you by Barangay Puerto and R Productions.

(The author is a Northern Mindanao Representative for Visual Arts of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts NCCA and Chairman of Dire Husi Initiatives, Inc.)

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