Newsletter

March 24, 2023

This edition of the Cinemata newsletter features a new opportunity for young Filipino and Thai filmmakers, as well as news of Cinemata's first on-site regional film showcase at the DRAPAC23 Assembly this May 2023. Plus, read about Cinemata's partnership with Filipino multimedia arts students and watch social issue films from the Philippines and Cambodia.

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LATEST NEWS

Call for Applications: Tech Tales Youth

Calling visual storytellers from Thailand and the Philippines: EngageMedia invites young filmmakers to produce short films on internet freedom and digital rights issues as part of the 2024 film collection Tech Tales Youth.

Building on the success of the 2021 film collection Tech Tales: Films about Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific, Tech Tales Youth aims to bring in the creative voices of young filmmakers into the digital rights movement, broaden their knowledge of how human rights and digital rights are intertwined, and how they can use their films for social change.

This Tech Tales round will comprise eight filmmakers between the ages of 18 to 30 who will each produce a five-minute short film. The project will have a strong emphasis on mentorship, and successful applicants will be provided guidance in shaping their story ideas to align with key digital rights issues relevant to their specific contexts.

To apply, fill out the form here by Wednesday, April 12, 2023, 23:59 Bangkok time (UTC+7). Selected filmmakers will be awarded up to USD 3,000 each for film production and travel support to the DRAPAC23 Assembly in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and the Philippine and Thailand premieres of the collection in early 2024.

Learn more and apply here.

APPLY FOR TECH TALES YOUTH

Cinemata Big Screen: Stories of Solidarity

Coming this May 2023: EngageMedia announces the launch of Cinemata Big Screen: Stories of Solidarity, a week-long program running parallel to the DRAPAC23 Assembly that will showcase over 20 films on online freedom of expression, surveillance, digital labour, data justice, online gender-based violence and more.

Cinemata Big Screen will bring together filmmakers and digital rights allies in an in-person screening to watch films that reflect their experiences, contexts, and advocacy.

Beyond film screenings, participants can also expect to engage with the community through masterclasses on social issue filmmaking and impact production, talkback sessions with the films’ directors, networking opportunities with filmmakers and digital rights changemakers, and more.

LEARN MORE

 

CINEMATA PARTNERSHIPS

Cyber Mirage

Cinemata is a major partner of Cyber Mirage, a showcase of capstone projects by Multimedia Arts students of the Philippines' Far Eastern University Institute of Technology.

Running until March 28, the week-long event celebrates and showcases the various thesis capstone projects of the institute's pioneering batch of multimedia arts students. These projects range from virtual reality, 2D & 3D animation, interactive 360 degree maps, and hybrid animation to animated series, storybooks, promotional websites, digital campaigns, and more.

Aside from an exhibit, the event also features a research colloquium, film showing, and seminars. Last March 22, over 200 students attended the seminar titled "Unveiling the Mirage" in which Cinemata curator Demie Dangla hosted a talk on "The Art of Documentary Filmmaking: Telling True Stories on the Big Screen".

Organiser: Far Eastern University (Institute of Technology)
Country: Philippines

LEARN MORE

 

FEATURED FILMS

'New Plantation, Old Land'

Put Voeun, a member of the Kouy indigenous community in Cambodia, shifted from planting rice to cassava despite the lesser yield after deforestation led to unproductive farming lands. Meanwhile, her husband works on a contractual basis for a rubber field in Chonghor Knaa village to earn money for rice and other necessities.

New Plantation, Old Land was made by indigenous youth under "Docu Colab" of the Sunflower Film Organization's Let's Document Cambodia 2022 project.

Producer: Sunflower Film Organization
Country: Cambodia

WATCH THE FILM

'Si Gloria at si Juan' (Gloria and Juan)

Sometime in the early 1970s, Gloria endures several sleepless nights because of the frequent pestering of a dwarf, who stalked her wherever she went.

A thesis submitted by Gilliano Salvador to the UP Film Institute, Gloria and Juan is an animated folklore set in Central Luzon, Philippines, and features the voice of Salvador's grandmother, the story's original source.

This film is part of 'Cinemata Visions: Lived Lives in the Present Struggle', a collection of nine student films from the University of the Philippines Film Institute programmed by documentarist and professor Jaja Arumpac.

Director: Gilliano L. Salvador
Country: Philippines

WATCH THE FILM

'As Seen by the Unseen'

In this collaborative film, documentary filmmakers and photographers from various countries reflect on the mass movements and protests during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Seen by the Unseen is part of the student film collection 'Cinemata Visions: Lived Lives in the Present Struggle'.

Filmmakers: Tamani The Photographer, Eyeing, Rebel Riot Band, David Saveliev, Miggy Arnonobal, Tin Conanan, Marianne Orduña, H Manalo
Country: Philippines, Nigeria, Myanmar

WATCH THE FILM