PH documentarian goes to Venice

BABY Ruth Villarama

Documentarian Baby Ruth Villarama is the recipient of a scholarship to the 13th Art Cinema = Action + Management workshop, which will coincide with the 73rd Venice International Film Festival, from Aug. 29 to Sept. 5.

Villarama, who directed the acclaimed docus, “Jazz in Love” and “Little Azkals,” is the first Filipino to participate in the workshop, which aims to train professionals working in the art-house cinema sector.

The workshop will gather 50 participants from all over the world for the eight-day program that offers theoretical lectures, practical workshops, case studies and projections given by 30 experts.

Villarama is a Chevening scholar, currently engaged in a year-long study of Motion Picture Distribution and Marketing in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

She hopes to learn more about the film industry from the training program in Venice. “It’s a crucial time for us in the Philippines…as we try to discover the best ways to support indie films,” she said. “I want to help the industry I belong to…because it also means helping indie movies find their audience.”

The big dream, she pointed out, is seeing a documentary open in a major cineplex. “That would be a game-changer!”

Simply put, her main goal is “to understand other countries’ film distribution systems, and find ways to encourage local distributors and the Filipino audience to support our own art-house, indie films.” Bayani San Diego Jr.