The second run of the biennial CineFilipino Film Festival, organized and led by Unitel Productions and in partnership with the MVP Group of Companies and PLDT Smart Foundation, was a resounding success. It surpassed expectations with extended screenings of the films in selected cinemas as well as extra screenings of Ice Idanan’s Sakaling Hindi Makarating.
“We definitely surpassed the previous CineFilipino Film Festival with more genres and more categories which reached a wider audience. Though at par with other film festivals, CineFilipino has clearly found its niche among the audience. Our diverse and audience-friendly films make us relatable to many people,” said Madonna Tarrayo, CineFilipino festival director and Unitel Productions president and group COO.
Aside from winning Second Best Picture, Sakaling Hindi Makarating also won awards for Best Director (Ice Idanan), Best Actor (Pepe Herrera), Best Cinematography (Ice Idanan), Best Musical Score (Mon Espia), Best Sound (Raffy Magsaysay) and Best Editing (Hannah Espia).
The film festival’s original run concluded with the CineFilipino Film Festival Awards Night which saw Ned’s Project take the Best Picture award, followed by Sakaling Hindi Makarating and Star Na si Van Damme Stallone which won Second and Third Best Pictures, respectively.
Additional awards for Best Picture Ned’s Project include: Best Actress (Angeli Bayani), Best Supporting Actress (Max Eigenmann), Best Cinematography (Tey Clamor), Best Screenplay (John Bedia) and Best Production Design.
Meanwhile, Third Best Picture Star Na si Van Damme Stallone bagged the following awards: Best Actress (Candy Pangilinan) and Best Supporting Actor (Isaac Aguirre).
As a testament to the success of the film festival, a separate run will be held at the UP Theater in UP Diliman from April 18 to 23. This is spearheaded by Cineastes, the film organization of the UP College of Mass Communication.
In addition, CineFilipino is also being tapped by interested groups for special screenings as well as theatrical and international film festival runs.
