Did you know that foreign film mentors from Europe, Africa, and Asia flew to the Philippines for a week to train Southeast Asian filmmakers and producers at the 6th Full Circle Lab Philippines (FCL Ph) that ended in March at the Quest Plus Conference Center, Clark?
Matthieu Darras is the founder and CEO of Tatino Films who developed the program supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).
“When we started Full Circle Lab, the Philippines aimed to bring together people from mainstream cinema and independent cinema from the different regions of the Philippines, which was really a great success,” Matthieu says.
Full Circle Lab Philippines is a capacity-building program aimed at supporting Filipino and Southeast Asian filmmakers, encouraging them to reach their highest potential on international standards.
“I really believe filmmakers should have an ecosystem where they can rely with one another and say, ‘This is a place I can nurture my project,’” says the former programmer of the Cannes Critics’ Week.
Among FCL Ph’s past projects include Dreaming & Dying by Nelson Yeo (Singapore) winner at the Locarno Film Festival 2023 (Golden Leopard for Concorso Cineasti Del Presente and Swatch First Feature Award), while Autobiography by Makbul Mubarak (Indonesia) and Glorious Ashes by Chuyen Bui Thac (Vietnam) were sent by their respective countries to the 2024 Academy Awards.
“If you build ties with neighboring countries, you come stronger together,” Matthieu muses.
In town were a script consultant from Africa Mmabatho Kau, The Fox Exploits the Tiger’s Might (2015, Cannes) Meiske Taurisia, Brazilian screenwriter Helen Beltrame-Linne, Whether the Weather is Fine (2021) producer Armi Rae Cacanindin, Bratislava-based film producer Juraj Krasnohorsky; Singaporean co-founder of Momo Film Co. Si En Tan, and Agnieszka Glinska, a film editor and a member of the Polish Association of Editors (PSM), Polish Film Academy (PAF), European Film Academy (EFA), and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Since (AMPAS).
Londoner Suzy Gillett studied filmmaking at St Martin’s College of Art. Gabor Greiner is in charge of the distribution support department of the Media Program at the European Commission’s Film Fund. Polish Izabela Igel is focused on international co-productions. Other mentors include Ngoc Tran (Vietnam) and Thibaut Bracq (France).
For the Fiction Lab, the projects are Black Dogs In A Squared Circle (Philippines), Day Tripper (the Philippines), Dear Mother (Cambodia), Green Valley And The Amber Marbles (Vietnam), The Passport (Malaysia), The Void Is Immense on Idle Hours (the Philippines), The Want (Keinginan) (Singapore), and Rhizome (Thailand).
For the First Cut Lab, project titles are Oma (Indonesia), Sunshine (Philippines), and The Old Man and His Car (Singapore and the Philippines).
The Creative Producers Lab discussed topics covering project development, legal, financial issues, and company development. The participants include Ellen Xie, KC Sulit, Zhi Qi Yeo, Sarah-Tabea Sammel, Dewangkoro Rinugroho, Bagus Suitrawan, Bernadette Chua, and Demie Dangla.
The Story Editors Lab trained film professionals who were capable of accompanying authors and directors in the creative process, primarily at the script development stage. Local talents Emilio Sta. Maria and Micah Tadena got in the program.
We are excited for two Filipino projects in the lineup. Sam Manacsa is developing her first feature length film at FCL Ph with The Void Is Immense on Idle Hours. Sam’s short film Cross My Heart and Hope to Die (2023) competed at the 80th La Biennale Venice International Film Festival in the official Orizzonti Short Films Competition. She also won Best Director at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival last December.
Director Antoinette Jadaone and editor Benjamin Tolentino are doing post-production on Sunshine, a teenage pregnancy drama starring Maris Racal.
For Matthieu, a Frenchman who moved to Central Europe 15 years ago, the goal is to have “a hub for like-minded people form Southeast Asia to be able to meet once a year, to exchange and work on a project and their skills.”