The nine short films from the 7th Sine Kabataan Short Film Festival 2024 delivered strong voices from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao as we saw the dreams of our young filmmakers on the big screen recently at the Red Carpet Cinemas, Shangri-La Plaza, Mandaluyong.

Dominating the awards was Juvy Ann Clarito from Davao de Oro, an accountancy senior getting ready for her board exams! Her film, Sa Ilalum sa Balabal sa Alitaptap (Beneath the Firefly Veil) won the awards for best short film, best director, and best cinematography. Aside from being the writer and director, she also played Joy, the lead actress of this 20-minute-film tackling land harassment and mixing it with the myth of supernatural fireflies.

“Land grabbing is happening, especially in the rural area,” says Juvy Ann. “Noon yung mga taga-bukid, madali lang sila utuin ng mga opportunistic people (Those who live in the fields, they are easily fooled by opportunistic people).”

Aside from the story, Juvy Ann and her producer, Emman Clarion, wanted to showcase their hometown, the majestic Maragusan in Davao de Oro.

From Quezon province, Gio Alpuente won best screenplay for High Tide or Low Tide? “I’m gay and I am bipolar,” he confesses to the audience. “This film is a love letter to my youth.” In a homophobic community, a teen goes on an emotional journey showing his true self. “Seeing it now (on the big screen), it felt like a huge chunk of myself was healed,” says the young filmmaker.

Dembert Tiamson’s If I Were a Voice won best editing. The editing lab mentors were award-winning Nikolas Red and Jerrold Tarog. The citation reads: “This film was the hands-down winner for editing, which made excellent use of the cut, sending out a call to the youth to use their voice against abusers.” Dembert started writing the script under filmmaker Giancarlo Abrahan’s class. “I wanted to use the performance as a medium to resist especially, because I was also a student leader before,” he says. An abusive teacher gets caught through the students’ vigilance. “I made the film speak up,” Dembert adds.

Clyde Gamale’s Ang Halikan sa Water Fountain got the special jury prize. This is a well-acted ensemble cast, a coming-of-age film between queers caught-up in the hyper-masculinity of the times with their peers while also discovering their growing feelings for each other.

A special mention was awarded to the Ilocano entry, Arapaap, by Zeus Batondo, a touching story about the friendship between 12-year-old boys Dong and Carlos as they attempt to build and rebuild a flying car against all odds. It is their only gateway to finding a lost mother.  “I love motorsports, second, I really love stories about ambition,” says Zeus.

Looking at his childhood experiences, he remembered his elementary days when everyone was still innocent. “Then makikita na natin yung classmate na may bruises, paano nangyari yon? (I would see a classmate with bruises and wonder what happened.). That’s how Arapaap started,” says the University of the Philippines’ Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts student.

Other films were Sa Dulo ng Linya, Kwitis, Last Shift na ni Jaguar, and the animated film, My Dog Knows All My Secrets.

The nine chosen finalists were given a ₱150,000 grant from the Film Development Council of the Philippines to produce their short films.

The Sine Kabataan jury was composed of award-winning producer Danzen Katanyag and filmmakers Arjanmar Rebeta and Stephen Lopez.