“Babylon”
Keith Deligero’s short film “Babylon,” which competed at the Berlinale last February, has brought home two awards from Brazil.
“Babylon” won the best film honors from both the official jury and the youth jury in the short film section of the fourth Fronteira International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, held recently in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil.
The Fronteira fest is “dedicated to the exhibition of films that resist the predominant forms of cinematic language… offering new ways of thinking and perceiving reality.”
According to the official jury’s statement, “the surprising and surreal approach” of Deligero’s film is a “comical invention… rarely seen on the experimental scene.”
Meanwhile, the youth jurors pointed out that the film is “unpretentious… bringing out the dirtiest side of dictatorial regimes” through a “fantastic narrative.”
The youth jury commended the film for denouncing “moralistic and authoritarian” policies that “gradually contribute to the extermination of marginalized groups in society.”
The members of the youth jury remarked that Deligero’s “sarcastic” film “proposes not only reflection on how we live, but also [offers] a sense of redemption capable of awakening a real desire for rebellion.”
Marvelous
Deligero told the Inquirer: “I put in the least amount of effort in ‘Babylon,’ but it was the most fun to make.”
He enthused that although it’s “marvelous” that their “little film has been screened in festivals all over the world since its premiere at the QCinema fest last year… that it is now getting awards is even more marvelous.”
Back home, the UP Cine Adarna will screen all of Deligero’s films since 2007, from April 30 to May 2.
“I hope my film’s win in Brazil will convince more people to attend the screenings. I also hope that those who have decided to skip the event will change their minds.”
He pointed out: “For me, Philippine cinema is an archipelago, we the Filipino audience must make the time, to relax and explore all of the islands in it.”