Seven screenwriters gain TOFARM filmfest grants
Of a staggering total of 119 script submissions, only seven finalists were chosen as recipients of film production grants to compete in the 2018 TOFARM film festival, our country’s only advocacy-driven selection of full-length feature films.
The winners were announced last Tuesday at Novotel Hotel. They were:
Hubert Tibi for 1957, a wistful historical drama set in Bicol, where farmers pin their hopes on genuine land reform with the much-anticipated arrival of President Ramon Magsaysay.
Keith Sicat for Alimuom, a sci-fi thriller set in a futuristic Philippines where sections of the country are under heavily secured bio-domes, beyond which resistance forces continue to defy the militaristic state by growing banned mutations of flora.
Charlson Ong for the period romance Fasang, based on the classic Sinai Hamada story “Tanabata’s Wife,” set in the outskirts of Baguio in the 1920s, where an aging Japanese farmer marries his recruited farmhand from Bontoc, sires a son, and loses them both before completing the cycle of poignant relations.
Rosalie Matilac for Isang Kwento ng Gubat (The Leonard Co Story), a biopic that pays tribute to the legendary botanist who was slain in the forest that he exhaustively studied, documented, and loved with a passion.
Eduardo Roy Jr. for Lola Igna, a dramedy set in Sagada, where a 115-year-old lady is touted as the world’s oldest living person in the hope of making it to the Guinness Book of Records and becoming an additional tourist attraction for the farming community. Meanwhile, she also has to settle the contending factions of her immediate family.
John Carlo Pacala for Mga Anak ng Kamote, a futuristic drama set in 2052, when the Kamote Planting Regulation Act has outlawed the planting of kamote.
Roman Perez Jr. for Sol Searching, a dark comedy about an unpopular scientific farming teacher whose demise leads to community problems owing to the absence of funds to lay her to rest.
Each of the winners receives a grant of P1.5 million for film production from agriculture entrepreneur Dr. Milagros O. How, president and CEO of Universal Harvester, Inc., who initiated TFF as its chief advocate three years ago. As the new festival director, Bibeth Orteza took over from Maryo J. De Los Reyes who passed away last December. She is assisted by Joey Romero as managing director. Dr. How’s staff includes TFF project officer Sonny Guingab and Agnes Valencia, who will be checking the progress of each production together with Kim Louise Valencia. Kristine Jor serves as festival coordinator.
TOFARM festival director Bibeth Orteza, chief advocate Dr. Milagros O. How, and managing director Joey Romero
Raquel Villavicencio led the selection committee that had to go through the script submissions before selecting an initial shortlist of 13 entries, which were then defended by their proponents in pitching sessions that resulted in the final selection of seven films. The committee members were Manny Buising, Mario Cornejo, Antoinette Jadaone and this writer.
We rated the scripts in terms of viability and strength of advocacy, freshness and novelty of theme and story, solidity of structure and characterization, effectivity of POVs or points of view employed, absence of plot holes, richness of narrative arcs, adequacy of dialogue without getting to be too talky or didactic.
The final variable was how to arrive at a proper balance of genres in composing the final selection. So we wound up with a love story that’s also a period piece, another of vintage setting but as a historical drama, a black comedy and a cultural dramedy, two speculative or futuristic pieces, and an inspirational bio pic.
Hubert Tibi, Keith Sicat, Eduardo Roy, Jr. and Roman Perez, Jr. will be directing their films, while Juan Carlo Pacala’s script is being handed over to Carlu Catu for direction. The Leonard Co biopic, likely to be retitled “Rafflesia Leonard,” will be jointly directed by Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, Rosalie Matilac and Milo Paz. Perennial prize-winning writer Charlson Ong still has to decide on his film director.
The filmmakers are given until mid-August to complete their films, which will screen in commercial theaters in Metro Manila from Sept. 12 to 19, with the awards ceremony to be held on September 15 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel.
The Best TOFARM Film 2018 will receive P500,000, the 2nd Best P400,000, and the Maryo J. Delos Reyes Special Awardee P300,000, plus their respective trophies, which will also be awarded for the best director, actor / actress, supporting actor / actress, child performer, screenplay, musical score, production design, editing, and cinematography.
Festival director Orteza and managing director Romero have set themselves the additional task of convincing theater owners to allow possible playdates outside Manila, so that particular films can be shown in areas that served as their settings.
Fasang and Lola Igna, for instance, are both set to be shot in Sagada, so that screenings in Baguio should appeal to Cordillerans. 1957 deserves to be screened in Bicol, while special screenings could be arranged for the UP Los Baños community for Rafflesia Leonard. Theaters in the Visayas and Mindanao should also give audiences a chance to enjoy the TOFARM offeerings.
As members of the selection committee, we now feel we have a stake in each of the seven films chosen on the basis of their scripts. Together with Dr. How and everyone else involved, we wait with bated breath to see which ones will best fulfill their respective visions and ambition.
