Local short film “Filipiñana” has been making noise in the international film scene as it bagged another win. It finished first at the Brief Encounters Grand Prix 2020 from the Encounters Film Festival in the UK. Before this, its first win was earlier this year in the Berlin International Film Festival (or Berlinale, as it’s widely known).
According to the short film’s IMDB page, the story revolves around newbie tee-girl Isabel as she learns the ropes in her job in a country club. As a tee-girl, she spends the whole day sitting on a stool, barely one foot above the dirt-ground, serving golf balls for golfers to hit as they practice swinging their steel clubs. It’s a film that reflects the Philippine societal structure. It stars Jorybell Agoto, Micah Musa, Sunshine Teodoro and Elle Velasco.
In March 2020, the film received its first award: the Silver Bear under the Berlinale Shorts category. It was also nominated in several film festivals like the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Guanajuato International Film Festival and Go Short International Short Film Festival Nijmegen.
And while it hasn’t been screened locally, many Filipinos have shown their support for “Filipiñana” and its producers. Most of the comments on the film’s official Instagram page are filled with warm greetings and pleas for the filmmakers to show it here. We sure hope they do.
Photo screengrabbed from the “Filipiñana” trailer
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