By Ace Ramirez
Washington D.C. Bureau
Freedom is something everyone longs to achieve, even puppets.
“Strings”, a short film by Rafael Daniel Evangelista, is about a puppet’s struggle to be free from the strings of its master and achieves it in an unexpected way. This and three other Philippine short films made it to the 2017 EuroAsia Short Film Festival held in Washington DC from 5-9 June 2017.
The films were:
- Strings by Rafael Daniel Evangelista
- Ito ang Huling Araw (The Last Day) by Peterson Vargas
- QWERTY by Paolo Dy
- Timora Talli Apuera Si Ramil (Ramil Might Be Outside) by Roberto Oquias Jr.
This year’s festival focused on the theme: “What is Truth”. Featured short films were from Germany, China, Spain, the Philippines, Italy, Korea, France, Japan, and the United States, screened at various embassies and cultural centers throughout Washington D.C.
Ms. Darell Artates, Public Diplomacy Officer of the Philippine Embassy and Ms. Maria Molina, Cultural Counselor of the Embassy of Spain led the brief discussion about the six films shown on the second night of the film festival.
“What we’ve seen here from the six films are the different interpretations of the theme. All of the embassies that are participating are free and flexible to reach out and call for films shown in this festival, and these are the interpretations of that theme,” said Ms. Artates.
“These three Philippine films are examples of the works of the younger generation of Filipino film makers, and we are very proud to show them here in Washington, D.C.,” she further added.
Strings was the Grand Prize winner at the Animahenasyon 2016: 10th Philippine Animation Film Festival, while QWERTY was a finalist in Spike Lee’s Babelgum Online Film Festival.
(Eagle News Service)
Photo by Philippine Embassy Washington DC