Thursday, December 04, 2008 Another Davao film bags CinemaOne best picture
DABAWENYO director Sherad Sanchez's digital film Imburnal copped the Best picture award during the recent CinemaOne Originals Film Festival awards held last November 29 at Dolphy Theatre inside the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center in Quezon City.
Shot in Davao City, Imburnal is a tale of two young boys living in San Antonio and their initiation to manhood while living an impoverished life in the city. The film took home the cash prize of P200,000 for winning the Best Picture category.
Sherad also won the Best Screenplay award while local Dabawenyo filmmakers Mark Limbaga, Jose Bagane Fiola, Joel Geolamen, and award-winning filmmaker John Torres took home the best Cinematography award for their work in Imburnal.
The film did not boast of major star power, utilizing instead locals living in the shooting area as actors in the film.
"Power talaga tong film na ito. (This film is powerful)," Limbaga said after hearing the news of Imburnal's win. "This is not like any other film you often see," he added in the vernacular.
It was not the film's first accolade. Imburnal also won the Lino Brocka Digital Lokal Grand Prize during the recent Cinemanila Film Festival held last October with no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo handing over the film award to Sherad during the awarding ceremonies in Malacañang Palace.
It was a repeat of Sherad's victory in this festival. In 2006, his film Huling Balyan ng Buhi, shot in Arakan Valley-Marahan, bagged Best picture in the CinemaOne Originals in that year. It also earned him accolades from various film festivals in Germany, France, and India.
Now on its fourth year, CinemaOne Originals Digital Film Festival is an annual project of ABS-CBN's CinemaOne Channel. It is intended to encourage quality digital films coming from a new breed of Filipino filmmakers. (PIA/RGA)
