Piling Obrang Video (POV) celebrates its 17th anniversary by conducting a film screening and fundraising event with the theme "POV: BAL1K7ANAW." A four-week celebration organized by UP cinema. A variety of their short films that are already presented on the big screens before will be uploaded on their Youtube channel weekly (February 27-March 26) to allow viewers to see their "Piling Obra" for free. It will also serve as a fundraising raising for the Tulong Kabataan-UP Diliman, an alliance and accommodation seeking help to Filipinos who are experiencing the impact and difficulty of dementia, natural disasters, and others.
There are sixteen short films uploaded this week. Among these films, here are my top 3 picks of the week; When the sea turns red by Ian Caacbay, Kung ano man ang nakahain (Whatever is served) by Vahn Leinard Pascual, and Proj. Imakulada by Jan Bernardino.
1.) WHEN THE SEA TURNS RED by Ian Caacbay
This short film may look weird in the first few scenes. However, if you are going to look thoroughly and dig deeper into the symbols of each scene, you will decode the hidden message of the film.
In this review, I’ll be sharing with you my point of view of this short film. I hope this will help you experienced an epiphany about how beautiful the film is.
According to the synopsis, the story is about a young girl, who met a young man in the middle of the sea, and then her life changes.
The first scene shows a girl whose head is covered with a thin white fabric. In my point of view, this white fabric represents the purity of the girl. You will also notice that she’s in the middle of the sea I think the sea represents the soul.
In the next scene, you will see a boy with a red thin fabric also covered on his head walking towards the girl. I believe, this red fabric symbolizes love. As you noticed, the director also added a fully-zoomed video of various facial features of the girl and her teeth. This is to show the emotion and purity of the girl. So basically, for me, this scene simply shows that the girl fell in love with this boy as they started kissing each other in the next scenes.
While they are kissing, the white fabric of the girl is slowly turning red, and the zoomed parts of her facial features are slowly filled with blood. For me, this means that the girl is head-over-heels with the boy already and that she gave her all she had including her virginity to the boy that she loved.
In the following scene, you will notice the boy walking away from the girl as nothing happened and while he walks away, you will notice that he is pulling a rope where three girls are tied up in the end. In my opinion, this shows that the boy does not have any genuine feelings towards the girl that he met in the middle of the sea. It’s like he’s just toying with the girl’s feelings, He’s just collecting and selecting girls just like what he did to the girls that are tied up in the rope.
The ending scene shows that the sea turns red. Now I have two POVs of this. First is that the sea turns red because the girl cannot bring back her purity. Second, the red sea represents sin since we all know that making love must only be done after marriage.
Overall, the film shows one of the major problems in our society that is teenage sexuality. Many teenagers nowadays were engaged in this kind of activity because of a lack of knowledge which usually results in early pregnancy. The ending scene is my favorite scene where the sea turns red because it holds a strong message. Among other films, this is my top choice because it has a powerful message to the viewers, and the symbols used are presented wisely.
2.) KUNG ANO MAN ANG NAKAHAIN
(WHATEVER IS SERVED) by Vahn Leinard Pascual
KUNG ANO MAN ANG NAKAHAIN (WHATEVER IS SERVED) is an experimental film directed by Vahn Leinard Pascual. Thus, this film needs a lot of thinking to understand what is going in the story. This film looks creepy but, to be honest, the lesson that you will get in this film is the best. This review is my point of view only.
The film shows a man and woman devouring bloody clothing. In the first scene, you will hear a girl moaning and then followed by a boy. You will see a pile of clothes in the background and a glitching video of a boy and a girl. In my POV, I think the messy clothes represent their TROUBLED MINDS.
In the next scene, Both of them are doing the same thing, vice-versa. Notice that the way they drink and devour the bloody clothing is like there's no tomorrow. Their expression says that they are excited and happy doing the same thing repeatedly to the point that they moan because of their excitement. For me, I interpret this scene as OBSESSION because they keep on doing the same thing that they love over and over again.
In the middle of the scene, you'll notice a glitch showing they are devouring lungs instead of bloody clothing. For me, I found the lungs a symbol of BREATHING. I also notice, they are not just eating the lungs; they also squeeze it hard.
The last scene shows different symbols like monsters, chessboard, different colors of drugs, thorns, and blurry effects. After seeing this, I figure out the hidden message of this film. For me, the film is talking about drug abuse.
You see, nowadays, a lot of people are using illegal drugs. The common reason why some people used illegal-drugs is because of their troubled minds caused by depression and anxiety. Most of them became addicted to it, and we all knew that addiction is an obsession. This addiction is eating them up like the monsters shown in the film, playing their imagination, drowning them until they find it hard to breathe (killing them).
I love this film because it has a powerful message to the viewers. The cinematography and the actress are great. The symbols are so wise, and the organization of the story concept is mind-blowing.
3.) Proj. Imakulada by Jan Bernardino
This film is about a girl who was given a chance to travel in two different eras; the '70s and the 21st century. Thus, she was able to experience two different situations. Later on, she realized that she has to make a decision, whether she stays in the present or go back in the past.
The first scene of the film shows her life in the past. You will notice a statue of The Virgin Mary shown in the video. For me, it symbolizes purity because it is the Blessed Virgin Mary. You will see how happy Ima is living her life in the '70s and how she enjoyed her first menstruation. Also, the way Norman looks at her is like a princess in a fairytale. She's well-loved, well-taken care of, and well-respected.
However, the next scene (present) where Ima is doing laundry, shows the opposite thing. Norman is controlling her not only physically but also, mentally and emotionally. The scene where she forgot to kiss Norman when he arrived from work shows that there's no longer love or even happiness happening between them.
I like the scene where they talk about their dreams because it seems like they are talking about their situation. When Norman says that he dreamt about dogs attacking him, and Ima dreamt about the snakes, It makes me think that both couples are not genuine with each other's feelings, and they're just forced to be with each other because of the benefits that they will gain. Norman is a rich guy but is already old, while Ima is a damsel, but her parents are poor. Both of them are just pretending, just like what Norman says, to follow the script.
In the last scene, Norman raped Ima on the night of her birthday. When Ima woke up, she's crying and feel disgusted with herself. But I'm glad when she comes to her senses that she must live this guy. The moment when she hit Norman's head with a bottle and escapes makes the ending satisfying.
I love the film, especially the music that they used, the lighting, the filters and of course the lesson that the film has. We all know that a lot of people nowadays are not happy in their relationship. Some of them are just forcing themselves to be in a relationship with that person mainly because of the benefits that they will have. They need to pretend everything even though they are not happy about it. The 21st century is different from the '70s. Trust, respect, faithfulness, and even "Maria Clara" is so hard to find these days.
Overall these three films are all exceptional because the stories were focused on the major problems of society. I can't wait to watch other films like this next week.
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