A group of junior high school students from Davao City National High School led this year’s winners of the 2017 Adolescent and Development Film Festival after their entry, “Kadlaw’n” (Dawn), was adjudged best film on Wednesday at the Pinnacle Hotel & Suites here.
The 10-member crew won in the 15-minute category while its shorter version won in the two-minute category, besting 11 other entries produced by students coming from different schools in Davao Region.
Film director Marl Joseph Cabanig, 15, shared he was inspired to create a film about his olescent and Development Film Festival at Pinnacle Hotel & Suites on Wednesday, 29 November. Photo courtesy of PIA-XIgrowing-up years in a community along the Davao River where some people engage in dangerous work to raise their families.
“I grew up in a community near the river where I could see those things, and to create a film you must build up a story close to what you see and feel,” he said.
As a filmmaker, Cabanig expressed concern over the condition of his fellow youth who engage in premarital sex and are lured into finding work at an early age due to poverty.
“I began to think how teenagers experience their life today. They used to work at an early age and sometimes are engaged in sex as young as us, students,” said Cabanig, a Grade 10 student at the DCNHS.
“Kadlaw’n” tells the story of Kaloy, who became a father at a young age with close friend, Lily. While growing up, Kaloy suffered emotional neglect by his father, Lando, who mines black sand to earn income for the family.
The film’s synopsis reads: “Kaloy impregnates his close friend, Lily, who panicked and did not seem to know what to do and later confided her condition to her older brother who burst into anger and mauled Kaloy resulting to his permanent paralysis” rendering him unfit to work.
It adds, “Soon after Lily gave birth, she left their child to Kaloy.”
Tailing behind is Meet-Up (Nabuntaran National Comprehensive High School) who placed second in the 15-minute category while its two-minute version placed third.
“Pagkahigmata” (Awakening) of Tagum City National High School placed third in the 15-minute category but finished second in the two-minute category.
The 1st placer in 15-minute Best Film took home P15,000 while the second and third placers received P9,000 and P6,000, respectively.
The best film in the in 2-minute category won P7,000 while P3,000 and P2,000 went to the 2nd and 3rd placers, respectively.
“Pagkahimagta’s” James Llenado and Joseph Brianne Ventures won Best Director and Best Actor, respectively. The film also won the Best Trailer Award.
The Best Actress Award went to Mia Masanguid of “Mia” (Mati National Comprehensive High School) and the Best Actor Award to Dennis Philip Jay Coronel of “Dibuho” (Mambago-B National High School).
Endria Silva of “La Esperanza” (Digos National High School) bagged the Best Supporting Actress Award. The film took home the Best Poster award.
“Meet-Up” bagged the Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Musical Scoring Awards.
The festival, organized by the Commission on Population (Popcom) in Davao Region, is held annually to “strengthen the public awareness on Adolescent Health and Development and various issues affecting the Filipino youth.”
A briefer released by Popcom said, “Young people make up one fifth of the country’s population. That means, 19.2 million youth, half of which are adolescents aged 15 to 19 sailing for adulthood in the next few years.”
“Many critical concerns affect adolescents that make a great impact on the society such as early marriage, maternal health limiting access to education and employment, poverty, domestic violence, the threat to STI/HIV and AIDS, and many others,” it added. (MINDANEWS)
