Geia De Vera, Lps. talks about ‘Limlim’, an official entry for Puregold Cinepanalo 2026
Geia De Vera talks about ‘Limlim’, an official entry for Puregold Cinepanalo 2026
This article is an excerpt from an exclusive interview hosted by Cining Studios, Written by Bernadette Diaz for SINEGANG.ph exclusive release.
“It mattered for me, that’s why I wanted to shoot it with Samy (direk), Gian (writer), and Berns (producer) because it’s a relevant topic. when you watch the film, it may sound cliche as a sensitive topic that’s been talked about a lot but it’s really not cliche lalo it’s long not mended,” direk Geia said. “It matters to me not just because I’m a woman, but because it is this whole system that is around us and is known to many and is lived by a lot of women and even sadder, more evident now more than ever with children,” she added.
Geia De Vera is the Director of Photography of the short film ‘Limlim’. In an exclusive interview with Cining Studios, Geia De Vera expressed her views and insights of the upcoming film. The film revolves around the grief and uncomfortable feeling of Lena as a mother of Lilia having to choose complicated choices for her child–following Lilia recovering from loss and pain.
“It is beautiful but it can also be very lonesome”
Geia also said that the film is mainly made to comfort the broken and the oppressed–Healing. she said “For me, there’s the feeling of the film that’s just healing. not much dialogue was there but you can feel it. like for me, whenever i’m sad or i feel lonely, i look for my mom, right? your mom is who you look for when you need help. so healing, i feel like it resonated with me na Lena was there for her child.”
Q: Were there specific framing choices to distinguish the mother’s and daughter’s emotional arcs?
A: “We do know na medyo construed history with yung family nila. so, with the arc of lena and lilia, yung motherhood, familial relationships– the first part was always through her eyes, through lena’s eyes of, can lilia hear me? does she know what’s happening? how can i protect her from whatever’s happening right now? it’s heart breaking to see a mom trying to protect her daughter when damage has been done. I think for samy and I, we wanted to focus on that sort of protection of a mom and realizing that it was never her fault.”
GEIA DE VERA’S FAVORITE SCENE IN THE FILM
“Yung pinaka-favorite ko actually na-cut dun sa trailer natin, pero the part where Lena is burrying a box in the ground then she cried. tapos biglang yung smoke pumasok siya sa harap ng camera and kinain niya ng buo yung frame, so, kasama si lena. Sobrang visual storytelling niya for me. But then the wind was blowing our way and then the smoke sa frame kinain si lena and sa akin parang, ah, it’s so, it’s so poetic. for me, I was so happy. I was so happy with that accident and I’m happy it got in the cut. That’s for me, maybe for some, di magugustuhan yung smoke effect but if you really think and understand the story, oo, okay nga siya”
Q: For sure, you’ve watched the film already/ what did you feel after viewing the edited version?
A: “It’s hard to explain a feeling when you’ve watched it too many times, you become desensitized to it. I feel like it’s more of a feeling of, if being disappointed would be a feeling, I guess that would be it. I mean like disappointed in a way of how tragic something happens that it’s not, it’s a literal reflection of reality. it becomes disappointing when you realize na nangyayari at nangyayari parin pala ito.”
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Geia De Vera: Director of Photography
Samantha “Samy” Palaje: Director
Gian Carlo Monahan: Writer
Bernadette “Berns” Diaz: Producer
Cining Studios: Production company for the film “Limlim” -
Clarence Petisme: Host
Bernadette Diaz: Facilitator
Josemaria Balubar: Head of Limlim Marketing Team
Saramae Sayarot: Recordist
Marcus Prado: Prompter
