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Pinoy cinema makes international mark

Confessional and Tambolista, two digital films produced and exhibited as part of the 2007 Cinema One Originals Film Festival are making waves in the international film scene.

Confessional, directed by Jerold Tarog, recently won Best Film in the First Features section of the 10th Asian Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema in New Delhi, India last July 19. There were 10 competing entries from around the world, including a second entry, Tribu, from the Philippines .

For winning Best Film, Confessional’s director received a $5,000 cash prize and a grant for his next film in the amount of $20,000.

First Features section jury head Roger Garcia and his co-jurors, filmmaker Nagesh Kuknoor and Sri Lankan filmmaker and journalist Vimukti Jayasundara were impressed by the film.

“That the film impressed these foreign critics was unexpected,” says Ronald Arguelles, Confessional’s executive producer and Cinema One Originals project head.

The award also caught its director Jerold Tarog by surprise. “We didn’t think the film’s culture-specific theme would resonate with audiences from other countries. But from the wonderful comments we received after the screening, we knew it really connected with the viewers. It’s a great feeling.”

He adds that what won the attention of the jurors was the fact that even if the movie’s theme was about serious issues like corruption, the treatment was relatively light.

Confessional’s string of triumphs began in Manila when it won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing. Best Sound and Best Supporting Actor for Publio Briones III at the November 2007 Cinema One Originals Awards Night. Last June, it won another slew of awards at the 24th PMPC Star Awards for Movies which, for the first time, created a separate category for digital films. Confessional won Digital Film of the Year, Digital Movie Director of the Year, Digital Movie Editor of the Year, Digital Original Movie Screenplay and Digital Movie Sound Engineer.

Confessional is the story of a fledgling documentary filmmaker named Ryan, who stumbles upon an unexpected subject who will make a stunning mark in his documentary: an ex-politician who confesses (hence the title) his crimes before Ryan’s camera. What follows is a string of unearthed secrets and sweet lies which is reflected in the catchphrase of the movie, equation-style: “Lies + Lies = Truth”.

Jerold Tarog, who also plays the young filmmaker in Confessional, says that he purposely did not cast any known actors or actresses in the film. “It was necessary to maintain the illusion of Confessional being a documentary, so we went with non-professional actors. If we had cast commercial film actors, it would have changed the whole dynamic, and you would have people thinking of it not as a documentary, but as a movie,” he explains.

Meanwhile, another Cinema One Originals movie, Tambolista (Drumbeat), was exhibited at the 2008 Cinemalaya Film Festival. It will also be screened at the fourth Jecheon International Music and Film Festival in Seoul , Korea from August 14 to 19.

Directed by Adolfo Alix Jr (who also directed Batanes), Tambolista stars Jiro Manio, Coco Martin, Sid Lucero (who won Best Actor honors at the 2007 Cinema One Originals Awards Night), Fons Deza, Ricky Davao, Susan Africa and Ms. Anita Linda. It is an intimate portrait of two brothers struggling with life’s tests, trials and tribulations and seeking their particular redemption.

Prior to its upcoming screening at the Jecheon festival, Tambolista already had successful screenings abroad. It premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival last January 2008 and participated in the Munich International Film Festival in Germany , also in January this year. In April, it was screened at the Barcelona Asiatica Film Festival and recently, at the Cinema Asiatica Nuovo de Madrid in Spain .

Arguelles says the success of Confessional and Tambolista in the international film scene prove one thing: “That Filipino artistry is capable of going head to head with the world’s best.”