2019 istorya ng Pag-Asa Filmfest kinakarir ni VP Leni

MASAYANG ibinalita ni Vice President Leni Robredo na maraming filmmakers ang gustong sumali sa kanilang Istorya ng Pag-Asa Film Festival na nasa ikatlong taon na ngayon.

Katuwang ni VP Leni ang Ayala Foundation sa proyektong ito. Sa ginanap na press launch ng IPFF sa Clock In Ayala North Exchange, Makati City ay nasabi ng Pangalawang Pangulo na marami nang natulungang filmmakers ang kanilang proyekto.

Kasama ni VP Leni na humarap sa presscon sina RJ Baculo ang direktor ng “Breaking Through the Darkness” at Al Quizon na bida sa pelikulang “Obra.”

Aniya, “Just to give you the context and the history of how Istorya ng Pag-asa became a project of the Office of the Vice President, this actually started when I was invited to an event called Araw ng Pag-asa, Araw ng Pagbasa in November, 2016 at the Ayala Museum.

“I was actually one of those Istorya ng Pag-asa stories na na-feature. And when I went, I was with two other Istorya ng Pag-asa champs, one of them was Hidilyn Diaz and the other was a lady from Quezon City, a turon vendor by the name of Nanay Lorna.

“So, nakilala ko when I went there, Hidilyn told us the story of her life and very inspiring iyong kuwento. Ikinuwento niya how she was born to a very poor family in Mindanao. Ikinuwento niya kung paano siya nag-ensayo noon na ang gamit niya lang mga lata ng gatas na merong semento sa loob at kung ano ang naging turning point for her success.

“Si Nanay Lorna nagkuwento sa dinanas niyang hirap, nagtitinda siya, naglalako ng turon but ano siya, single mother. But she was able to send all her four children to school – all very successful. One was a law student, one was a nurse, one was a teacher. Iyong youngest niya student sa PGH noong time na nagkita kami doctor na yata siya ngayon.

“After noon, I went out of the event. I was very inspired but I did nothing. Pero right after the event, siguro a few days after, I was invited to another event in Cagayan de Oro. Iyong pangalan ng event sa Cagayan de Oro, ‘Let us Change the Conversation.’ It was an event that was sponsored by young people.

“Pagpunta ko sa event, ang unang pinag-usapan, how the young people wanted to put a stop to all the negativity already that is in our midst. Sabi niya, ‘Kaya tayo nagtitipon-tipon ngayon kasi we want to affect change already. We want to do something about it.’ So napaka-inspiring ng event.

“Nakabit ko siya sa event na ‘to. So ang sinasabi ko buti pa ‘tong mga bata, nakaisip kung paano babaguhin iyong nangyayari sa paligid. Tapos ako biktima rin ako ng mga fake news, pero wala akong ginagawa.
“So binalikan ko ‘yung sponsors ng ‘Araw ng Pagbasa, Araw ng Pag-asa.’ Pinakiusapan ko if we can adopt the Pag-asa part. So that was the birth of Istorya ng Pag-asa as a project of the Office of the Vice President,” mahabang kuwento ni VP Leni.

Dahil naging matagumpay ang IPFF ay nagtuluy-tuloy na ito, “During the first year anniversary celebration, noong November, 27, 2017, naisip namin to launch Istorya ng Pag-asa Film Festival and we are very, very lucky. Now we have for our partner, Ayala Foundation.

“So from the success of the first film festival, noong second anniversary ng Istorya ng Pag-asa, we launched the second Istorya ng Pag-asa Film Festival na very successful din kasi we received so many more entries. We had 98 entries,” aniya pa.

Nai-launch na rin ang Istorya ng Pag-asa coffee table book, “Ang sponsor naman nito is the Istorya ng Pag-asa Camarines Sur core group. Very, very inspiring ang mga contents ng libro,” pahayag pa ni VP Leni.

Ngayong 2019 ay mas malaki ang premyong matatanggap ng mga mananalo sa Istorya ng Pag-Asa Film Festival, “Mas malalaki ang prizes ngayon, Best Film will receive P100,000 tapos iyong 1st Runner-Up P50,000 then 2nd Runner-Up will receive P30,000.

“Aside from the three major awards, we are also giving special citations for the Best Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing. Tapos iyong People’s Choice Award, we launched this for the first time during the Second Film Festival.
“Dito bumoboto ang mga tao. And Ayala Foundation gave a Community Development Award tapos ang Office of the Vice President naman gave a Special Recognition Award,” paliwanag pa ni VP Leni.

Ang deadline for submission of entries ay sa March 27, 2020.