A Pinoy filmmaker in Paris’ COVID-19 diaries

Filmmaker Jarell Serencio (left) with the production team of “Paris sa Akong Kasingkasing”

Filmmaker Jarell Serencio, who was stranded in France during the COVID-19 Omicron variant surge in December, said he “made sure to turn the unfortunate situation into something positive.” Jarell made a short film out of his experience.

Serencio described the end product, “Paris sa Akong Kasingkasing,” as an experimental surreal drama inspired by the stories of Filipinos living in Paris. It is one of 16 shorts in the “Eksena Cinema Quarantine: COVID-19 Filmmakers’ Diaries 2” or “ECQ2” that will start streaming on the Vimeo platform after the formal launch today at 4 p.m.

“I was supposed to go home on Dec. 21, after the training workshop I attended in Nantes, France. The program, called ‘Produire Au Sud,’ is an international film coproduction training for emerging filmmakers,” Serencio told Inquirer Entertainment during a chat over the weekend. He is set to come home to Manila, again, on Feb. 21.

“I wasn’t able to come home because the Philippine border was declared closed to all passengers coming from France,” recalled Serencio, who was scheduled to shoot his short film in Davao. “I decided to change my story since. At that point in time, I’ve also immersed myself in the Filipino community here in Paris. I learned a lot of the stories that happened to them during the lockdown. These stories inspired me because, at that time, I was also trying to navigate my way here, to find out how to survive during uncertain times. Like them, I also felt so lost and I longed to go home.”

‘Blessing in disguise’

He further said: “It was scary, yes, but I actually felt challenged to be creative. To be honest, it was not easy to shoot here, but I have no regrets at all. Amazingly, what happened was a blessing in disguise. I got the chance to work with a professional French sound engineer and cocinematographer.”

Jarell, who directed the past Cinemalaya short film entries “Siyudad sa Bulawan” and “Viktor,” said this was his first international shoot. Given more time and budget, he said, “I would still work on the same story, but I would’ve had more time to do research. Shooting in Paris, I discovered, was quite expensive. I had to hire a professional crew. Plus, production costs like food and transportation here are expensive.”

The 16 films chronicle the filmmakers’ stories amid varying restrictions and alert levels during the pandemic. It is a project of the National Committee on Cinema, a subcommittee of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Aside from Serencio, the participating filmmakers are: Joseph Andrew Abello (“Not a Short Film”), Roberto Acusar Jr. (“Pangamut Gayd”), Reyan Christian Amacna (“Pinitik”), Ara Mina Amor (“Pisti Pandemic”), Mervine Anjelo Aquino (“Palengke Day”), Brian Jonathan Bringuer (“Mel”), Demie Dangla (“Things I’ll Tell You”), Jean Claire Dy (“Ritual of Affliction”), Christopher Gozum (“Agno: Memories of a Forgotten River”), Xavier Axl Roncesvalles (“Anima Sola”), Alyssa Mariel Suico (“See Us Come Together”), Kevin Van Sulitas (“My Day”), Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay & Richard Jeroui (“Mga Handum Nga Nasulat sa Baras”, Hubert Tibi (“Ilog Bikol”) and Jasper Villasis (“Sampung Minuto”).

‘Creative response’

The 16 participating shorts during “ECQ1,” which was launched in January 2021, was screened in 15 countries, according to National Committee on Cinema (NCC) vice chair Butch Ibañez. “This year, we would like to reach as many people as we can, here and outside the Philippines. We hope to reach as many people as we can,” he declared. “In terms of improvements done for ECQ2, we have a lot of first-time directors, whose bodies of work aren’t that extensive yet. We hope to contribute by giving more people a platform to showcase their talent and artistry.”

Sub Committee on the Arts (SCA) and NCC chair Rolando Tolentino said what’s important to the agency is to make sure that Filipino artists and filmmakers have a “creative response” during periods of lockdown or the pandemic situation.”

Tolentino added: “This is not just to address the present generation of moviegoers and filmmakers, but also to address the future generation. To inform them that this is how the filmmakers of this time presented or was able to document the individual and collective experiences of artists, cultural workers, Filipinos and the Philippines in the midst of a global health crisis.”

Each of the 16 filmmakers received a P75,000 cash grant from the NCCA. “Since last year, we’re now talking about 32 filmmakers who have rendered their short films on the visibility of their lives in the kind of invisibility we are in during the pandemic lockdown. It’s a wager on the future that the NCCA and the filmmakers made, and eventually will be appreciated by the next generation. This was how we stood up and continued to live in the worst conditions.”

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