‘Birdshot,’ ‘100 Tula,’ ‘Patay Na Si Hesus’ reap Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino honors

Jaclyn Jose in “Patay Na Si Hesus”

Mikhael Red’s “Birdshot” won the Critic’s Choice award at the Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP) Thanksgiving Night last  Sunday at White Space in Makati City.

Jason Paul Laxamana’s “100 Tula Para Kay Stella” bagged the Audience Choice award, while the Victor Villanueva comedy “Patay Na Si Hesus” went home with the Special Jury Prize.

The Sine Kabataan Best Picture award and a cash prize of P50,000 was given to the short film “Ang Unang Araw ng Pasukan” by Ar-Jen Manlapig.

Short films “Pahimakas,” by Lance Maravillas, and “Delayed si Jhemerlyn Rose,” by Doc Senoc, shared the Jury’s Choice honor. “Fat You” by Ronnel Rivera III, and “Ang Kapitbahay ko sa 2014” by Anya Zulueta, both won the Amazing by Choice award.

Bela Padilla (left) and JC Santos in “100 Tula Para Kay Stella”

The weeklong screening of 12 independently produced films in over 700 cinemas all over the country earned P127 million gross as of Aug. 21, according to Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) chairn Liza Diño.

The FDCP head further disclosed that the PPP will have its second run in 2018. This year’s  festival concluded its run on Aug. 22.

Diño added that the 2018 finalists would be announced sooner compared to this year “to give more time for producers to promote.”

She would also conduct consultations with industry leaders to decide on whether the 2018 PPP should feature only debuting films or still include movies that were previously showcased in local film festivals.

The FDCP would also meet with cinema operators to come up with “a more systematic way” of selecting movie theaters for each finalists, Diño reported. “We’re taking small but important steps. What we need to do first is convince our cinema owners that there is indeed a market for these kinds of films,” she added.