(Image courtesy of NCCA-National Committee on Cinema)
BACOLOD CITY – Some 16 short flicks produced by regional filmmakers amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic were unveiled by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in a virtual launch on Saturday afternoon.
The NCCA National Committee on Cinema (NCC) is presenting the Eksena Cinema Quarantine 2: Covid-19 Filmmakers’ Diaries or ECQ2 in partnership with the Bacolod-based University of St. La Salle (USLS) as a sequel project of the ECQ initiated at the height of the enhanced community quarantine in the previous year.
“ECQ2 is NCC’s contribution to spur the sustainability of film making practice among the regional filmmakers. It is not only a showcase of the best of regional film making but, more so, a testament to Filipino filmmakers’ commitment to film as art and the Philippine society,” said Prof. Rolando Tolentino, chair of NCC and head of the NCCA-Subcommission on the Arts, in a statement.
The feature films include Joseph Abello’s Not A Short Film; Roberto Acusar Jr.’s Pangamut Gayd; Reyan Amacna’s Pinitik; Ara Mina Amor’s Pisti Pandemic; Mervine Aquino’s Palengke Day; Nathan Bringuer’s Mel; Demie Dangla’s Things I’ll Tell You; and Jean Claire Dy’s A Ritual of Affliction.
Others are Christopher Gozum’s Agno: Memories of a Forgotten River; Xavier Axl Roncesvalles’s Anima Sola; Jarell Serencio’s Paris Sa Akong Kasingkasing; Alyssa Suico’s See Us Come Together; Van Sulitas’s My Day; Kat Sumagaysay and Richard Jeroui Salvadico’s Mga Handum Nga Nasulat Sa Baras; Hubert Tibi’s Ilog Bikol and Jasper Villasis’s Sampung Minuto.
“We are providing free access to our kababayans (countrymen) here and abroad to be able to partake of excellent films from all over the country,” Tolentino said.
Amor, a Visayan filmmaker, said aside from the limitations brought by the Covid-19 health protocols, a major hurdle during the production was the onslaught of Typhoon Odette in the middle of December last year.
“Most of us scheduled our shooting dates during or prior to the typhoon. It was really difficult. In most areas, electricity was not available,” she added.
Through the ECQ: Covid-19 Filmmakers’ Diaries, the NCCA-NCC, together with the USLS Bacolod, aims to contribute to the development of Philippine cinema by curating omnibus feature-length films in the time of Covid-19.
The project also seeks to document the individual and collective experiences of artists, cultural workers, Filipinos, and the Philippines amid a global health crisis.
Free screenings can be accessed in the NCC official Vimeo account through the main landing page of ECQ2 vimeo.com/showcase/ecq2.
Two virtual online cinemas, CINEMA 1 https://bit.ly/ECQ2_Cinema1 and CINEMA 2 https://bit.ly/ECQ2_Cinema2, will run until March 25, 2022. (PNA)
