CINEMALAYA 2021: Reviews of COMPETITION SHORTS SET A

August 8, 2021

1."Maski Papano" (I Mask Go On) 

Directed by: Che Tagyamon and Glenn Barit

Running Time: 5 minutes

This is a whimsical stop-motion animation featuring a small wooden articulated mannequin dressed up in discarded face masks. He was going around town feeling miserable about his useless life, until he met other masked figurines like him who felt the same way. The story is timely, being about mental issues experienced by many people during this pandemic. The use of animation to tell the story earned it additional points for originality and effort. However, despite this gimmicky approach, it could have been better if the storytelling could have delved a little deeper on the issues involved.  5/10. 

2. "Crossing" 

Directed by: Marc Misa

Running Time: 7:45 minutes

One night of desperate need, Gabriel (Nino Mendoza) got on a bus planning to hold the passengers up for instant cash. However, fate had other things in store for him on this fateful ride. By this time, I had already watched all 13 of the short films in competition and I am declaring this one to be the best one in my book. Director Marc Misa kept the pace tight and the atmosphere tense, right up to that suspenseful final decision at the end -- simple, direct, no nonsense. It also had topnotch technical work by cinematographer/ editor Edsel Abesamis and sound/ music by scriptwriter LC de Leon to enhance the uneasy feeling of claustrophobia. 9/10. 

3. "Kawatan sa Salog" (A Toy in the River) 

Directed by Alphie Velasco

Running Time: 18:36 minutes

This Bicolano magical realism short film about Santi (Kyle Kaizer Almenanza) who drowned after trying to fish a toy his father (Marc Felix) threw into the river. From there, Santi was transported to an island of lost regretful souls, where he was guided by an old woman (Lui Manansala).  The idea was interesting but something was lost in the execution of that ending sequence. I felt they could have taken more time to flesh that part out some more. Young Almenanza gave a good performance in the lead role of Santi, having good chemistry with veteran actress Manansala. 6/10.

4. "An Sadit Na Planeta" (The Little Planet) 

Directed by Arjanmar H. Rebeta

Running Time: 12 minutes

On his birthday, a young man named Arjan found himself transported to a small planet called Planet 1, on which a disembodied voice calling himself 1 would engage him in conversations. This experimental short film was shot entirely with a 360 Camera which gave it an entirely unique look, as can be seen on its attractive poster. This was practically one-man work of art by Arjanmar Rebeta, who wore different hats in this project, as producer, director, writer, cinematographer, musical scorer, editor and sound designer. It had a motivational message of self-help, but this may or may not come across clearly depending on the viewer. 7/10. 

5. "Looking for Rafflesias and Other Fleeting Things" 

Directed by: James Fajardo

Running Time: 20 minutes

Young boy Gubat (Reynald Raissel Santos) was ostracized in his town, being rumored to be the son of the "tikbalang" feared to be responsible for the murders of a number of townspeople. That was all I understood of the film. When Gubat met this mysterious English-speaking man Darren (Kevin Andrews), I do not know what this film was trying to say anymore. Who was this Darren guy anyway, why was he there looking for the rafflesias, and why did he behave with so much violence towards Gubat? It made absolutely no sense for me. 1/10.

6. "Out of Body" 

Directed by: Enrico Po

Running Time: 14:53 minutes

During the first day of their commercial shoot, new model Elle Vicente (Kelley Day) was told that the concept of the whole project had been revised. However, the way things were going on at that shoot scared the nervous Elle out of her wits. This film had the best-looking production values of all the entries, very slick-looking. Beauty queen Kelley Day gave a good debut acting effort as Elle. The supporting cast of theater actors (Nelsito Gomez, Joel Saracho, Tarek El Tayech and Dylan Ray Talon) went full on with the creepy vibes. It was just too bad that the ending left more to be desired after all that excellent build up of suspense and tension.  The subliminal commentary about the local film industry is chilling. 7/10. 

7. "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Lola Mayumi" 

Directed by: Shiri De Leon

Running Time: 20 minutes

Lola Mayumi (Ruby Ruiz), famous in their small town for being a devout old maid, accepted a dare from her friends to hire a male prostitute (Julian Roxas) and finally lose her precious virginity. Ruby Ruiz was delightful playing Mayumi oh so coy and innocent, excited yet scared for what was going to transpire. She was also right at home also when the story took a more dramatic turn. Julian Roxas held his own beside Ruiz, playing the psychologically-attuned call boy. The cold ending was a bit of a letdown after all the interaction that went on between the two characters, but I guess that was how meetings like this really go.  7/10.