Paano Maging Babae, a short film that speaks against the socially-accepted injustice brought by misogyny, was recognized as the Best Student Short Film at the recently concluded 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF).
Written and directed by Digital Filmmaking student Gian Arre from the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts, Paano Maging Babae seeks to answer the titular question as it follows a mandatory nationwide examination. Its cloying and manipulative misogynistic questions became a turning point for a woman to demonstrate and take a stand against the normalized social issue.
Other shorts by Benildean students were likewise in the film lineup, to include AaBaKaDa by Tyrone James Luanzon which tackles the influx of foreigners in our country; Sala, Salin-Laway by Daniella Verzosa which brings the family and barangay together in one living room due to Miss Universe; and Sina Alexa, Xander at Ang Universe by Vahn Leinard Pascual which treats viewers to the simple wonders of life via a play of pageantry among siblings.
To complete the roster are Balik-Bayan of University of Makati, Kyokok (Nilingaw) of Western Mindanao State University, Lipstick and Paraisong Parisukat of the Philippine High School for Art, Laruang Baril of Far Eastern University, and Garbo of University of Southeastern Philippines.
Paano Maging Babae is the opening short attached to full feature film Fan Girl, which swept multiple MMFF awards. These are Best Picture, Best Actor (Paulo Avelino), Best Actress (Charlie Dizon), Best Director (Antoinette Jadaone), Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound.
MMFF is available worldwide and may be viewed until Thursday, Jan. 7 on the video-on-demand platform Upstream PH through this link: https://upstream.ph/mmff/.