‘Harana’ wins in San Francisco

MANILA, Philippines—Benito Bautista’s “Harana” won the Audience Award for Documentary at the Center for Asian American Media Film Festival held in San Francisco, California recently.

The news was relayed by documentarian Babyruth Villarama-Gutierrez of Voyage Studios, which edited the film.

Editor Chuck Gutierrez told the Inquirer that the honor was a fitting tribute to Harana Kings Celestino Aniel, who passed away last year and Felipe Alonzo who died this month.

The docu follows Filipino-American Florante Aguilar as he embarks on a quest to rediscover the dying tradition of the harana. Bautista is one of the honorees in last year’s Inquirer Indie Bravo! Tribute.