‘QCShorts 2023’ REVIEW: An assortment of talents
‘QCShorts 2023’ REVIEW: An assortment of talents
This year’s QCShorts are very promising. With entries from young filmmakers (and an indie film legend), these short films showcased in the festival capture the human experience in such unique and creative ways. In this article, we will be discussing all six entries, ranging from inescapable yearning and religious guilt to exploration of sexuality.
Tumatawa, Umiiyak (Dir. Che Tagyamon)
Jury Prize Winner of the QC Shorts Competition 2023
Things that departed from existence tend to leave memories behind on people that mattered greatly to them. The walks with someone you hold dearly become vivid in mind: You see the bright skyline, now blocked by the cascading skyscrapers of the metro. You pass through the outskirts of your neighborhood only to appreciate the greeneries of an out-of-place cemetery reserved for the rich. You recount the games you played when you were young; when he was still alive. All of these memories, painted in brighter colors of yesterday and of youth’s naivete.
Che Tagyamon's Tumatawa, Umiiyak is all about the remembering that comes with grief and loss. Her animated short film is a colorful eulogy of a man for his grandfather as he recounts his memories with him and of his old neighborhood. The animation style is a choice that is very fitting to its story. The poignancy ever present in the script never leaned so much to melodrama, and upon doing so, Tagyamon successfully pulled the right heartstrings of the audience that made them connect to its protagonist.
Animal Lovers (Dir. Aedrian Araojo)
Best Picture Winner of the QC Shorts Competition 2023
Absurd would be the word that best describes this short. Animal Lovers follows a pregnant couple who, respectively, have a weird relationship with their animals: the woman with her dog and the man with his carabao. Putting so much love on the animals, this punchline went on and on until the very end, where their bestiality cost them emotionally (as for the man) and somehow physically (as for the woman).
While the humor of Aedrian Araojo’s short film works, with the crowd noticeably enjoying themselves, it feels so thin when you try to ponder more about it. Sure, its surreal exploration of fragility, desire and ego is present but the whole depth of it is so shallow it feels like it only dipped its toes and knees on the topic. The technical aspects of it were impressive, especially its black-and-white cinematography (Carlos Mauricio). Araojo employed actors who are just a thrill to watch on screen (Iana Bernardez and Karl Medina). So good for the film for having used its grant money into something creative and surreal. It is a film probably best consumed and enjoyed when you let yourself laugh over the absurdity of the whole thing. Just don’t go around discussing the deeper meaning of this short.
Tamgohoy (Dir. Roxlee)
The most experimental short out of all the entries, Tamgohoy is a retelling of the story of Tamblot and Dagohoy, two important figures in Philippine history. They are responsible for the two important uprisings during the Spanish occupation that lasted for decades, with Dagohoy’s uprising lasting for more than 80 years. Roxlee, an influential figure for many young filmmakers nowadays, mixed animation, cinema verite techniques, and non-linear narrative in this short film. His style is present and he remained true to his craft with the short film. The end result is a ritualistic, dream-like experience and everyone is invited to witness the mysticism in its structure and narrative.
So much creative freedom is given to the recipients of the grant money and Roxlee really went out and unapologetically made a film true to his craft with the short film. However, you will be left wondering if Roxlee deserved the slot or whether QCinema should’ve given a slot to someone else. While cohesion isn’t the point of experimental films, certain parts of Tamgohoy went on for so long that finishing it felt like a chore. They were saved by a few memorable bits, but that’s the end of it. Still, it’s nice to know that QCinema welcomes these concepts and styles and believes in their passion and potential.
A Catholic School Girl (Dir. Myra Angeline Soriaso)
Gender Sensitivity Award Winner of the QC Shorts Competition 2023
A Catholic School Girl follows a young girl named Kaya (Ora Palencia), a student from an all-girls Catholic school, as she develops a crush on Sister Agnes (Sharon Idone), her mentor who will be transferring to a province far from Kaya’s school. We witness how she grapples with her attraction to her teacher and the religious guilt that comes with it.
With all the online buzz circulating the film following the release of its trailer, high expectations have been set in the minds of the viewers (or at least the chronically online ones). Having watched the film itself, I am glad to report that those expectations are met. The simple and conventional narrative of Soriaso’s short does not deter its quality. In fact, the execution of its relatable topics of young love and yearning rings true to its audience. Many have akin experiences of being a Catholic school student and more are the ones who took a liking to their teachers. Performances from the actors are natural. All of its technical aspects, from Martika Ramirez Escobar’s intimate cinematography to its editing, are handled with thought and care.
But there'll probably be a part of you that would wish for more: that it could've been written as a feature-length film rather than a short. It would've been interesting to see Kaya's character be explored more, diving deep into her thoughts and desires. There is a lot of room to play around surrounding the concept of religious guilt and sexual awakening, and fusing them both would open a lot of avenues to explore. I just wish, not sooner but hopefully later, that Soriaso would revisit this character. Many female-centric films in the past have done this, like Seligman's Shiva Baby and Trey Edward Shultz's Krisha. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if this will take the same route as them in the future.
Microplastics (Dir. Lino Balmes)
Our insides are now contaminated with foreign objects brought upon by the innovations in technology made by humankind over the years. Some are deadly, while others are just chemicals wasting space inside us. Recent studies have discovered that there’s a high chance that every human being has microplastics in the crevices of our body and we will all die with it. It is suffocating and it might feel like there is no more room for happiness and fulfillment in you, yet you keep searching for it despite the suffering.
The main character named Hero (Arnold Reyes, Gian Bernardino, Skylee Alcalde) of Lino Balmes’ Microplastics is in pursuit of finding happiness that would make his heart beat once more. Where love will occupy you and suffocate you with happiness rather than with suffering. Maybe the microplastics, the leftover traces of his sufferings, will be flushed out of his system as soon as he finds one, or maybe they will remain and he has to just live with them.
Either way, he is finding happiness while swimming in a pool filled with plastics, and Balmes’ short delivers this idea in his narrative through a nondialogue script and tight editing that never felt restrained. It was never really clear as to what those microplastics really meant (Please note that the paragraphs above are the interpretation I had). The end could be read as his acceptance of his identity and his past, and finding joy out of it. But who knows?
Abutan Man Tayo Ng Houselights (Dir. Apa Agbayani)
World ending in uncertainty. Any minute it could be gone in a snap. There is nowhere to be but on the dance floor. For the last time, at least, let’s dance the night away ‘til the dawn breaks. Let our bodies intertwine with the pounding beat of the music and bright lights of the disco and feel the array a. Let’s connect with an old flame for the very last time and share an empty dance floor, kahit abutan man tayo ng houselights…
In all honesty, Abutan Man Tayo Ng Houselights checked all the important factors in terms of creating an effective short film. While its premise is straightforward, Apa Agbayani’s execution is outstanding. Its editing makes the experience feel like a psychedelic trip to the cosmos while simultaneously evoking intimacy in sequences that flow so smoothly until the very end. Framings range from seeming isolating to intimate, and Martika Ramirez Escobar’s cinematography is full of personality. They help tell the story Agbayani wished to tell and it is very helpful that the memorable performances from Jon Santos and Bart Guingona really stood out in this film with their chemistry together feeling natural and believable.
QC Shorts is one of the competition categories of QCinema International Film Festival 2023. Recently, awards were given to the winners last Thursday, November 23, 2023. These short films are all bundled in one program and they will have their final screening on Saturday, November 26, 2024, 1:00 PM at Shangri-La Plaza Cinema 3.
