“Babylon”
Filipino filmmaker Keith Deligero’s “Babylon” has been invited to the Berlinale Shorts Special Program.
The first A-list film festival for 2018, the Berlinale will be held in Germany from Feb. 15 to 25.
This year’s Shorts section gathers 22 films from 18 countries, including Brazil, India, Qatar and Portugal.
According to the fest’s website, the films in the Shorts program “look reality in the eye and actively contribute to the sociopolitical discourse.”
Deligero’s 20-minute film is competing for the fest’s
top prizes (Golden and Silver Bear and the Audi Short
Film Award).
“Babylon” tells the story of “two girls who travel through time to assassinate a barangay dictator and revise history.” Deligero directed the Cinema One Originals films, “Iskalawags” in 2013 and “Lily” in 2016.
“I have done four feature films—Cebuano films,” Deligero recalled. “Since then, people have been telling me that the reason my films are not invited to international festivals is because they’re too local.”
He recounted that he shot “Babylon” 10 years after making his first short film (“Uwan Init Pista sa Langit”) in 2007.
“Winning best short film at QCinema and being in competition at the Berlinale is the best way to celebrate a decade of making very ‘local’ films with good friends,” he said. “Local is international.” —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.