By BEVERLY C. PAOYON
ALABEL, Sarangani (November 26, 2013) – Sarangani’s celebration for its “first people” or Munato Festival begins Wednesday (November 27) with SalaMindanaw International Film Festival, the first to be staged in the province.
To give relevance to Munato Festival, the filmfest this time will showcase eight short films depicting the theme “Sarangani Icons, Visions and Perspectives.”
The eight finalists are Ang Bola by Hasnar Pangolima, Ang Superhero ng Sarangani by Eugene Simbajon, Bé by Ronald Tamfalan, Buya by Ariel Lalisan, I Dad Flao Fye We Di Bulen by Arnold Tialang, Masaganang Maitum by Bai Rohanni Adtud, Pakaradyan by John Rocha and Urn Jars by Christine Gay Tolentino.
“For the flow of the the Sarangani premiere on November 27th, please advise your guests to come on time. We start exactly at 4pm,” said Gutierrez Matalam Mangansakan II, festival director.
“The program will be brief and sweet: the Munato chair will give a 5-minute speech acknowledging all important people present, while I will acknowledge the filmmakers. Then lights off and we screen the films.”
Organizers said SalaMindanaw International Film Festival “is the first and only international film festival in Southern Philippines which aims to raise awareness and promote international cinema with emphasis on strengthening the cultural ties between Mindanao and its ASEAN neighbors, support the nascent film movement in the region as well as engage the public in both popular and critical discourse on art and cinema and their transformative power to shape ideas about society, thus encouraging cultural diversity and the plurality of creative expressions.”
Regional Tourism Council president Michelle Solon said the opportunity of holding the filmfest came just in time with Sarangani’s celebration of Munato that is why they add the Sarangani flavor to it by incorporating perspectives of the province’s culture and tradition.
Solon is optimistic that with the filmfest, people may know what does really “first people” mean which is the essence of what the province is celebrating during Munato since the filmfest promotes “different stories and different perspective of Sarangani from the eyes of a Sarangan.”
The screening starts on Tuesday (November 26) at Robinson’s Place in the nearby General Santos City. International short films from Singapore, Poland, Indonesia and Malaysia will also be shown while Sarangani entries will be screened at 4pm on Wednesday (November 27) and Friday (November 29).
Munato Festival will formally open on Thursday (November 28) at 4pm at Sarangani Provincial Capitol grounds. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/Beverly C. Paoyon)
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