5 Filipino Millenial Filmmakers You Should Know
The Philippines has been the home to films that defined and reflected the country and the world we live in through the years. With this era being the era where millenials are slowly taking over everything, here are 8 young Filipino filmmakers who are slowly taking over the filmmaking industry. (In no particular order)
Pepe Diokno
Image grabbed from pepediokno.tumblr.com
Only 29 years old, Pepe Diokno has already made its mark in the industry, having garnered multiple awards in various film festivals – including Gawad Urian, Venice Film Festival, and Jeonju Film Festival – for his first full-length film Engkwentro. This film follows two brothers who are both hiding from the “City Death Squad.” Aside from this, he also directed Above the Clouds and Kapatiran, which competed in film festivals inside and outside the country.
Diokno also heads Epicmedia, the film production company behind Lav Diaz’ Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis and Antoinette Jadaone’s That Thing Called Tadhana.
See his works here.
Samantha Lee
Image grabbed from Samantha Lee’s Twitter page.
Samantha Lee’s first film, Baka Bukas, tackles the story a girl who admits her feelings to her best friend. Baka Bukas, which was recently screened in some of the cinemas in the country, was initially a part of the Cinema One Originals Film Festival last year, where it won the Audience Choice Award and the award for Best Sound. What sets her apart from the other filmmakers tackling the same theme is how she takes the already-existing issues of the LGBT community and give it a fresher feel.
See her works here.
Petersen Vargas
Image grabbed from benchblog.ph.
Before his latest coming-of-age film, 2 Cool 2 Be 4Gotten, was born, Petersen Vargas has already been to film festivals in Mindanao, Pampanga, Thailand, and Mumbai for his 20-minute thesis film, Lisyun Qng Geografia. This film was part of the Cinemalaya Film Festival Shorts, earning him the Best Director Award. Usually tackling LGBT themes in his works, Vargas also makes sure that he puts a slice of his hometown, Pampanga, in his films.
See his works here.
Ice Idanan
Image grabbed from vimeo.com/iceidanan.
Ice Idanan is the mind behind the recent CineFilipino Film Festival film, Sakaling Hindi Makarating, which won awards including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, and 2nd Best Picture. She graduated from the UP Film Institute, and her thesis film entitled Limang Libo was named the National Winner for the Kodak Filmschool Competition, and one of the finalists in a category of the Cinemanila Film Festival.
See her works here.
Gino Santos
Image grabbed from philstar.com.
Known for his films which revolve around the issues of the millenials, Gino Santos is a freelance filmmaker whose 2 films – The Animals and #Y – have been finalists of the Cinemalaya Film Festival. The Animals, narrating the story of the upper middle class teens who wanted to fit in the society they belong to, was nominated in multiple awards in Gawad Urian, was screened in Stockholm and New York film festivals.
See his works here.
Images taken from: pepediokno.tumblr.com, Samantha Lee, benchblog.ph, vimeo.com, philstar.com
Sources: news.abs-cbn.com, philstar.com
