BY MARY JOY CAVAÑAS
ILOILO City – The Panay Bukidnon short film entitled “Sa Paglupad Ka Banog,” by Ilonggo producer and director Elvert Bañares and screenwriter Dr. Jesus Insilada, has won the Best Short Film at the 46th Gawad Urian Awards.
This film is said to be the first among the winners to have the actors of Panay Bukidnon as the main cast, particularly Cultural Master Romulo Caballero (a Gawad Urian nominee for the full-length film “The Chanters”) and his real-life grandson Jashem Rosh Caballero Padernal, who were the first to be given consent by the Panay Council of Elders in close coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples in Region 6.
“We offer this victory to our Panay Bukidnon communities and all Ilonggos around the world. Padayon kita!” said Bañares in a Facebook post.
The said film is produced by E Unlimited, Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc., the Department of Tourism in Region 6, and the Negros Cultural Foundation in association with the Municipalities of Calinog and Lambunao.
The awarding ceremony was held at the University of the Philippines Film Institute Studio in Quezon City on Nov. 30.
“Sa Paglupad Ka Banog” also bagged the top prize at the 13th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival in Malaysia and a gold award at FACINE in the United States for Cinematography, Aural Design, and Visual Design categories. It has also been declared as one of the 20 Best Films of 2022 by Asian Movie Pulse.
Earlier this year, the film also bagged the “Ani ng Dangal” award at Malacañang Palace./PN
