Cinemalaya X a decade of connecting dimensions.

Are we easily attached?

Isn’t it weird how we constantly desire for others to feel what we feel? To know what we know? To hear what we hear?

Like how we love a movie so much that we get giddy we want to watch it with friends or with our love ones the second time around? Or how a joke was first thrown at you and no matter how corny it may sound, if it has made you laugh, you willingly share it with others, too?

Is it really true that happiness is real when shared?

That is probably because there’s no feeling greater than sharing joy the second time around with first timers. Maybe in a way, we find ourselves in them. The power of shared experiences; it somehow tells us that we’re all connected in some level. They say that misery needs company, but I believe it goes the same for happiness as well.

It’s a human drive, a longing, a constant desire.

Last week is totally amazing, it was actually. It was two days after the Cinemalaya X indie film festival. For us, a mass-comm students it is very important to watch films like this, because this is want we need. A indie films is a open ground to oversee the real situation or happenings in the country. It open our eyes and mind on all sufferings that Philippines been to. It doesn't just like the mainstream movies that all about happy endings. Indie films are not made for money, unlike mainstreams. It also give opportunity for the new breed directors who wanted to showcase their talents to us.

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film competition and festival that aims to encourage the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers – works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity. It also aims to invigorate the Philippine filmmaking by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers. Each year, ten fresh talents are given a seed grant in order to create the film of their dreams. These films in the New Breed Full Length Category are then featured in festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines every July and compete for the coveted Balanghai Award. 

Cinemalaya X still celebrating a decade worth of connecting dimensions, this year’s Cinemalaya festival coverage involves an impressive set of New Breeds.
Cinemalaya turns a decade old this year. 15 films, 10 days. 

Because of my busy schedule I only watched one film which is #Y, so here's a thing, after our class me and my classmate went out to CCP to attend on the GALA NIGHT of #Y. it was totally awesome. I was my first time to attend something like this, omg! Ofcourse im with my boyfriend he is super sweet that he went there after his work just for me. so sweet. 

 #Y

Category: New Breed
Rating: 9.5/10

“Being happy and having no right to be unhappy are two completely different things.”

The film directed by Gino Santos (‘Island Dreams‘) is more than what it sells –the sex, drugs, and tales of the wasted youth– it’s more specifically about a twenty something year old boy who diagnosed with clinical depression and borderline schizophrenia and how he’s dealing with the life ahead of him. It has a style of storytelling that steers away from giving sympathy to its lead characters but that won’t keep you from caring. The cinematography, the musical scoring, the energetic vibe it gives off– they fall nothing short of Santos’ trademark that would really engage the audience. The different shots are good that really made it very unique and I think it can be put also in the Mainstream. But the plot is nothing new to me since it’s reminiscent of Joselito Altarejos’ ‘Unfriend‘ with its commentary on the generation today and a micro view of the emotionally unstable youth. What’s impressive with #Y was the execution and casting. Everything just felt natural and well directed. Elmo Magalona really stood out from this film. It just proves that he improved a lot. It just prove how the right material can bring out the best in you. Coleen Garcia also did well in her role as Janna, I think it is who really she is in the reality, maybe because I heard a lot about her, aside that she and my boyfriend and friend was studying in the same school in Southville International School and Colleges (SISC) I heard that she's kinda mataray, snobbish, not approachable , I think she just really put it in to action that it was very natural on her. Kit Thompson, and Sophia Albert provided their own individual characters impressively portraying a no nonsense liberated woman, a drug addict sex maniac douche, and an insecure virgin, respectively. Meanwhile Slater Young is mysterious and annoyingly adorable as Mark and Chynna Ortaleza is at her best portraying a brief yet necessary role as Abby, the girl whom Miles talks to in the suicide hotline.

The film is also smart not to give enough details as to why Miles did what he did. He is the closest Holden Caulfield we could get in the local cinema: his crazy line of thought, his allergy to phonies, his fondness for a girl. The film is heavily inspired by Catcher in the Rye, which is even cited in one of the scenes. The religion scene with Jana (Coleen Garcia) is also reminiscent of Caulfield. I like the reference so much, to tell you the truth.

Moreover, #Y is a mirror of the current millennia. It is a reminder that some things are just beyond our understanding and even if we care, we could only help so much. After all, to be understood and to be misunderstood is not so much. In our generation we really don't know the capacity of a person, what on his mind so I think we must need to know ourselves more to become a better person.