Philippine short film “Pagnanakaw” wins in Singtel contest

Of all the almost 600 submitted entries, The Philippines’ “Pagnanakaw,” bagged the second place in the first Singtel 5-minute video challenge.

From the left: Mr Alberto de Larrazabal, Globe CCO, Mr Simon Israel, Chairman of Singtel Group, Miguel Sotto, Jaz Reyes, Ms Chua Sock Koong, Singtel Group CEO. Image grabbed from singtel

With the theme “Connecting lives,” Miguel Soto and Jazmin Reyes bested other 11 entries from Australia, Singapore, Thailand, Tanzania and Indonesia with their 5-minute short film “Pagnanakaw.” According to Cinematographer and co-director Miguel Sotto, it took them a day to shoot the entire five-minute short, and spent about P1,000. They took home US$15,000 for winning second place.
“Pagnanakaw” is about the story of a young man in Manila who commutes using the LRT every day to buy tofu for his family. He brings along a container for enough tofu to feed his family for a day.

He wonders why he isn’t allowed to bring a larger container so he won’t have to travel every day. His father says to him that is a form of stealing.

“We always buy food to store in our homes. Sometimes they get spoiled in the pantry because we forget about them. But what if there’s a family that actually needs that food, but wasn’t able to buy it because you got to them first? That’s why it’s a form of pagnanakaw,” said Jaz Reyes, one of two directors of “Pagnanakaw.”
According to Filipino film critic Philbert Dy, one of the juries of the competition, “Pagnanakaw” demonstrate a strong message about the Philippine film culture. The film was inspired by a Badjao tribe. During Reyes’ immersion activity as a business student, she witnessed them go up the mountain for four hours every day to get food, then come back down for another four hours to deliver them to their families, buying just enough for the day.

The regional judges of Singtel Group’s “The 5-Minute Video Challenge” are Thailand’s AIS chief marketing officer Pratthana Leelapanang, Tanzanian creative director Raqey, Singapore’s most acclaimed fimmaker Erik Khoo, Filipino film critic Philbert Dy, Indonesian filmmaker Monty Tiwa, and Australian content innovator and leader Simon Joyce. Joining them on stage is Singtel Group’s vice president for business development and COE programme, Oliver Foo. Photo courtesy of GLOBE TELECOM.Image grabbed from cnnphilippines

Winners were selected including an online vote which comprised 30 percent. Indonesia’s “Rotasi” (Rotation) won the top prize.
Globe Telecom, Singtel’s Philippine partner, launched through its film production arm Globe Studios the Globe Independent Film Festival (GIFF).

Watch Pagnanakaw here: PAGNANAKAW

Source: http://cnnphilippines.com/life/culture/tech/2016/11/28/singtel-group-5-minute-video-challenge.html, http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/248780/philippine-short-film-wins-singtel-contest/