25 student filmmakers receive P100K film grants for upcoming festival

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 25 students from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are slated to receive P100,000 each as grants for an upcoming film festival. 

The student-filmmakers turned in the most promising short film projects out of 245 entries submitted to Puregold’s very first CinePanalo Film Festival. 

“The film grants will help tremendously with the production costs of their ventures as they pursue their passion for filmmaking,” said Vincent Co, president of Puregold Price Club Inc. 

“We certainly hope that they are as thrilled as we are by the good news,” he added. 

The selection committee for the short film category includes award-winning director Lemuel Lorca; film critic and columnist Tito Valiente; Puregold senior marketing manager Ivy Piedad and festival director Chris Cahilig.

The short film category of the festival is primed to entice and inspire young creatives to push their craft. For one, the P100,000 grant is expected to go a long way in funding their filmmaking projects.

For the said festival, the chosen film grant recipients will have their shorts screened at Gateway Cinema in March 2024. The shorts will also be uploaded on Puregold’s official social media channels on YouTube and TikTok.

“The festival will be a celebration of all things hopeful and inspiring about Filipino culture,” said Piedad. 

“This is why we’re proud to uplift the work of these new, bright voices in Philippine cinema. By investing in the Filipino youth, we’re also investing in their development as the soon-to-be defining artists of our time,” she added. 

The winning student-directors and their films are:

The selected winners can now begin the production phase of creating their shorts. The final products can be viewed by the public alongside selected feature film projects at the first ever Puregold CinePanalo. 

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