The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane, in collaboration with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) of the Philippines, provided support for the participation of two Filipino film makers, Ms. Matrika Escobar and Mr. Petersen Vargas in the VientianaleInternational Short Film Festival 2016, which was held in Vientiane, Lao PDR from 11 to 13 March 2016.

Vientianale is an annual film festival in Laos that was established in 2009 by German film enthusiasts with the aim of developing the film industry in the country. This year, the festival featured ninety (90) short films from thirty (30) different countries covering a wide range of genres, such as comedy to drama, and in various forms, both live action and animation.

Ms. Escobar and Mr. Petersen were invited by Vientianale organizers to the festival to screen their respective acclaimed works. Ms. Escobar’s PusongBato, which was named Best Short Film at the 2015 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, was a story about a former movie star who tried to relive the days of her prime.Mr. Vargas’ LisyunQngGeografia, which garnered him the Best Director Award at the same event, is a Kapampangan film about a young man who retraced the places that were special to him and his best friend. The short films were screened during the festival on 12 March 2016, where Ms. Escobar and Mr. Vargas held a discussion about their films and Philippine film making.

Another segment of the Vientianale was the screening of four short films from Cebu’s Binisaya Film Festival: Ale Alejandra by Samantha Solidum,KatapusangLabok by Aiess Alonso, Saranghae My Tutor by Victor Villanueva, and UwanInitPistasaLangitby RemtonZuasola and Keith Deligero. Mr. Paul Douglas Grant, professor of graduate cinema studies at the University of San Carlos, and current editor in chief of SinekulturaFilm Journal and the Binisaya Film Festival, presented these films and led discussions on Cebuano filmmaking.END.