Pinoy mini-documentary wins special mention prize in Malaysia

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

A short documentary about a musical group of children from Zambales bagged a Special Mention award in the recently concluded Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival in Malaysia.

“Maliliit na Hakbang” (Small Steps), directed by Richard Soriano Legaspi, tells the story of the You-Kalele Kids Zambales from the coastal village of San Felipe. The kids, whose plans to enter the music scene were cut short by the pandemic, struggle to keep their dreams alive amid their limitations and challenges.

“For these kids from the remote village in the coastal area of Zambales, music is their life and dreams. They are hoping to have a sustainable musical career in the future,” Legaspi shared.

The documentary’s title came from one of the group’s songs, which focuses on saving the environment and their love for nature. Last August, it also got a special citation from the 33rd Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video, which is considered the longest running film and video competition in Asia.

“While they have their own struggles, they continuously sing for the environment. In their young minds and hearts more than their dreams, they know that life in this world and the nature that surrounds us are equally important to have a sustainable life,” the award-winning filmmaker added.

Since 2009, the KKIFF has showcased inspiring films not just from filmmakers in Sabah and Malaysia but also those from Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America.

Legaspi was part of the Asian Film Academy in Busan, South Korea in 2007. Since then, his films have been officially selected in different film festivals around the world. In 2013, he received the UNESCO Laureate scholarship and eventually became a resident artist of the Università delle Idee in Italy.

He also became the first Filipino artist featured in the retrospective of Monsoon Asia Film Festival 2016 in Taiwan, where he also received the Taiwan Emerald Initiative grant for his full-length documentary project in development “Halfway Home.” In 2019, he was selected for a pitching workshop and forum at the KKIFF for another project “Place, Displace, and Replace.”

This year, he completed two other short films – “Bakit Ako Sinusundan ng Buwan?” (Moon Under My Feet), one of the competitive grant winners of Sine Halaga, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Values Short Film Festival, and “Panulukan” (Crossroads), which is part of EngageMedia’s “Tech Tales: Films about Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific.”

The documentary has also been screened as part of the Festival de Cinema de Alter do Chão in Brazil, International Happy Future Scripts Film Festival 2021 in Ukraine, 11th International Youth Film Festival in Russia, Children's International Film Festival 2021 in the US, Bamasa Film Festival 2020 in Cebu, and the Nabunturan Independent Film Exhibition (Nabifilmex) in Nabunturan, Davao de Oro.

“Creating a documentary for children is a challenging creative initiative because I believe they are the most transparent and honest storytellers in the world,” Legaspi concluded.

WWF-Philippines: COP 26 is one of our final chances to Change the Ending for people and planet

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

The 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) happening in Glasgow, Scotland, is one of the very few COPs before 2030 - the point where if we do not halve our global emissions to keep the warming within 1.5 degrees C, the damage becomes irreversible. Urgency is key - on mitigation efforts, climate finance, adaptation, and loss and damage. The Philippines is both a megadiverse country in terms of biodiversity and 3rd in the world in the Climate Risk Index. Our voice uniquely counts in COP 26.

The Philippine government must be faithful to what the state of our people and planet unmistakably reveal. We must not waste this opportunity to avert an impending disaster for us all. We are calling on the current government, as well as candidates running for office, to champion every Filipino’s human right to a safe and healthy environment, and our basic right to exist and survive in this country. They need to present a clear vision to navigate with exceptional leadership so we all could be together in mitigating the effects of and coping with the climate crisis that affects all of us.

Thus, our COP 26 voice should resound with our commitment to: 

1. Synchronize all sectors on the goal. A commitment to mobilize and unite, from cities, government agencies, companies, academia, civil society, and investors, among others to further step up action in line with the Paris Agreement objectives to advance the climate agenda, including in greening of COVID-19 pandemic recovery finance.
2. Make national emission reduction targets to be ALL “unconditional”. Build on the momentum for enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and Long-Term Strategies (LTS), responding to the findings of the latest UNFCCC NDCs Synthesis report. While we appreciate the commitments made by the Philippine government, we know that we can do much better knowing what we need, as only 2.71% of the 75% emission reduction target remains unconditional, while the remaining 72.29% is conditional. This gives much space for the possibility that the Philippine NDC targets will not be met. Making ALL our targets “unconditional” fulfills our requirement which could only work in our favor and also gives us a “buffer” in favor of being nature positive. Transformational adaptation solutions and increased climate funding should also be in place even as mitigation implementation speeds up.
3. Recognize and operationalize a consistent and robust integration of the value of nature in our social, economic, and political lives. These include but are not limited to legislation, policies, strategic plans, budgets, measures, and tools that include “nature” as an integral part of the framing of “cost and benefit” for our people and country. The Philippines must also champion and support technically, environmentally, and socially sound nature-based solutions for mitigation and adaptation for its own systems as well as demand this from other member-states and transboundary entities in the formal outcomes of the conference.

The message was the same over 50 years ago and we largely dismissed it. The message did not go away because the realities that triggered it now loom over us as existential threats. COP26 is one of the few remaining windows in time where we could reverse the course. There should be no other choice but to be in the service of life - ours and our one and only country, in our one and only home planet. Together, we can change the ending and we can change it NOW.

FDCP Fully Vaccinates 5,000+ Film & Entertainment Workers through its #GoodJab Vax Program

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

A total of 5,102 film and audiovisual workers have been fully vaccinated under the Film Development Council of the Philippines’ (FDCP) #GoodJab Vaccination Program in partnership with the Quezon City (QC) and Manila City Government.

The third and last batch to complete the inoculation of 3,500 workers under the City of Manila’s “Vaccine Nation is the Solution” Program, received their second doses at Adamson University on October 18. The second dose vaccination program that started on September 29 is also part of the final activities of last month’s Philippine Film Industry Month.

In this collaboration with the City of Manila Health Department with Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, the FDCP National Registry (NR) successfully carried out the vaccination of 3,500 film and AV workers. FDCP’s #GoodJAB and Manila’s “Vaccine Nation is the Solution” are supported by SIP Purified Water.

Last June, the 1,500 FDCP-registered film workers were vaccinated in the “Bakuna Nights para sa Film at Entertainment Workers” of the FDCP and QC Government through the #QCProtekTODO program at the Quezon City Hall Vaccination Site.

“With the recent developments, including our fully vaccinated film workers, things are looking up for the local film industry. This will not be possible without the help of our stakeholders who believe in the importance of our film workers’ safety especially in these trying times. Many thanks to Mayor Isko Moreno, Mayor Joy Belmonte, and their vaccination teams, as well as FDCP’s National Registry team and FDCP employees who volunteered and provided full assistance,” said FDCP Chairperson and CEO Liza Diño.

The 5,102 vaccinated workers are all FDCP NR registrants. The national film agency compiled and submitted the list of National Registry for Audiovisual Workers (NRAW)  registrants with their information and required documents to the City of Manila and Quezon City.

 

For inquiries and other concerns, kindly email nationalregistry@fdcp.ph or visit nationalregistry.fdcp.ph.