by Emily Manuel
Contributor, Eagle News
(Eagle News) — EBC films’ “Guerrero” was featured as one of the full-length exhibition films at the 4th Singkuwento International Film Festival Manila Philippines, held at the NCCA Leandro Locsin Theatre in Intramuros, Manila last February 17, 2019.
Singkuwento brings together filmmakers from various regions in the Philippines and other countries. This year, local participants came from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, while international participants came from Korea, Canada, Cambodia and the United States.
What began in 2012 as a brainchild of five filmmakers has now become an annual event that culminates in awards given in various categories, including short films, documentaries and full-length films.
Festival director Perry Escaño, one of the co-founders of Singkuwento, explains that a criterion for choosing entries is its social relevance and message to the audience. Singkuwento chose Guerrero as one of its exhibition films because it’s a story about hope and of facing adversities in life.
“Dapat makita ng audience yung story ng Guerrero para… makita nila yung sacrifices ng lead natin dito na hindi sya nag-gi-give up. Laging may hope. (The audience should see the story of Guerrero … This way they can see the sacrifices of the lead actor here who never gave up [on his dreams]. There’s always hope),” Escaño explained.
International award-winning director Carlo Ortega Cuevas was proud that Guerrero was chosen to be part of the festival. The cast and producers were also there to support the event, including Genesis Gomez who played the lead role of “Ramon Guerrero”, and Joyselle Cabanlong who played the role of his love interest “Abby”.
The film was well-received by the audience. Justine Mae Llege, from Valenzuela, found the movie “perfect for everyone… Makakakuha po tayo ng maraming values… about family…love, career, passion, dreams.” [The movie was perfect for everyone. We can get a lot of values from it about family, love, career, passion and dreams.]
The 4th Singkuwento International Film Festival will run until February 22, 2019.
