The last week of “The First Reel: Philippine Film Festival” in Berlin highlighted five short films and a full length film by emerging Filipino filmmakers. Week two of the film festival opened with Rina Tsou´s “Chicharon”, Sari Estrada´s “Asan si Lolo Me?”, Trinka Lat´s “April Fool´s”, Martika Ramirez Escobar´s “Pusong Bato” and Chris Costello and Mihk Vergara´s “Ang Maskot”. All short films have earned distinction from local and international award-giving bodies and were very warmly received by a varied, international audience.
The Festival’s last roundtable discussion on “Visual Story Telling” followed after the short films. The panel brought together film scholars, producers and animators which included Filipino filmmaker and production designer Trinka Lat, German filmmaker, artist and visual and media anthropologist Steffen Köhn, Filipino-German filmmaker Kerstin Rexrodt and British producer and archive researcher Melody Howse. It was moderated by Filipino-German filmmaker Divina Hasselmann. A very dynamic audience eagerly participated in the discussion, which focused on innovative approaches and technologies that help produce onscreen narratives.
Berlinale Talent Campus Alumna Sigrid Bernardo´s debut film, “Ang Huling Chacha ni Anita” earned raves from its international audience with its coming of age story about first love, the search for identity, and the strictures of tradition. A Q&A with actress and lawyer Jay Bordon, who portrayed the role of the adult Anita, followed the screening of the film. The event was bookended by the soothing music of Berlin-based Filipino-British singer songwriter Mishka Adams. END
