A scene from “Tokwifi”
“Tokwifi,” a love story between a Bontoc Igorot man and a 1950s actress trapped inside a television set, was awarded best film at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival awards program on Wednesday afternoon.
“This way of thinking is already part of our culture: When a director is doing a film, he would say, ‘my set, my staff, my story, my film.’ Shooting ‘Tokwifi’ has taught us that making a film is a communal effort,” a teary-eyed Carla Ocampo said during her acceptance speech. “We would not have finished this without the help of our adoptive community, Bontoc, Mt. Province. I will never grow tired of expressing my gratitude to you.”
Director Carla Ocampo
According to Carla, “Tokwifi,” which also won the Netpac (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury Prize, reflects on two significant issues: How women characters are “boxed” within men-dependent stereotypes throughout the history of local television and how media continues to label indigenous mountain people as “primitive” and “uncivilized.”
Best director award went to Martika Reyes Escobar for her work in “Living Things,” about a woman who discovers that her decade-long boyfriend has turned into a cardboard standee.
“I admit that I can’t be fully happy in accepting the award because we are all faced with a lot of problems right now, but I’m glad that Cinemalaya arranged something like this,” said Martika. “I’m sure (the festival) has given a sense of comfort to all those watching at home. I share this award to the entire team of ‘Living Things,’ which is really a close collaboration. I hope it will inspire more people to make films for fun and for reflection with friends.”
Joanna Arong received the Special Jury Prize for her work in “Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos,” which recalls the events that happened when super typhoon “Yolanda” wreaked havoc on Tacloban, Leyte, in 2013.
Hubert Tibi bagged the best screenplay honor for his “Pabasa Kan Pasyon,” about a Bicolano family that turns to religion to make both ends meet.
The Audience Choice award was given to Reeden Fajardo’s “Quing Lalam Ning Aldo,” which is about the experiences of a transgender sampaguita farmer who decides to renovate their neglected kitchen as soon as she hears that her son is going home.
Heading the three-member board of jury this year was American film producer Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, who is also the founder of Hawaii International Film Festival. The two members were award-winning film directors Sari Dalena and Raymond Red.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cinemalaya finalists were not screened at its usual venue—the Cultural Center of the Philippine in Pasay City—but were seen on the video hosting platform, Vimeo. The festival will run until Aug. 16.
The other participating short films were: Janina Gacosta and Cheska Marfori’s “Ang Gasgas na Plaka ni Lolo Bert;” Sonny Calvento’s “Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss;” James Mayo’s “Fatigued;” Jan Andrei Cobey’s “The Slums;” and Richard Salvadico and Arlie Sumagaysay’s “Utwas.” This year’s awards ceremony was hosted by Glaiza de Castro, who has appeared in Cinemalaya films like “Liway,” “Still Life,” “I-Libings” and “Rakenrol.”