“Tutob” and “Kuris,” short films produced by students of the MSU-IIT, hugged the limelight winning the top and third prizes, respectively, in the Students Category of Cinemagis, the Northern Mindanao Film Festival of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Annually hosted by the Xavier University Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA), the festival presents the best films produced in this part of the country. Jurors select films from among the winners to represent the region in a national film festival, this year’s to be held in Laguna.
The festival is a flagship project of the National Committee on Cinema of the NCCA.
Both films, including Professional Category winner “A Wonderful Nightmare” will represent Mindanao in the national fest. Another Iligan-produced film, “Dedangers,” won second place in the Professional category.
Both films, short-listed in the final ten, were products of the advocacy programs of the Institute of Peace Development Management (IPDM) of the IIT which initiated an earlier film contest with the theme on conflict.
The complete list of winners of the films from MSU-IIT:
“Tutob”: Best Film, Best Actor (Fer Mykel Gonzales), awards in Best Direction (Kissza Mari Campano), Art Direction, Editing (Dan Cristino, Myllse Casiple, and Kyff Baldonado), and Sound Scoring (Ron Cagula).
“Kuris” (produced by the College of Medicine): 2nd Runner-up, Best Actress (Almaerah Sohrahisa Limgas), Best Story (Angela Christie Apat) and poster.
Another film produced in Iligan about scavengers “Dedangers” won 1st Runner-up in the Professional Category and awards in Best Actor, Art Direction, and Cinematography.
Jurors were Mindanaon international filmmaker Teng Mangansakan, actor-director Felimon Blanco, and Dr. Steven Patrick C. Fernandez.