THIS year’s Oscar’s Best Picture “Parasite” – a Korean film by Bong Joon-ho – makes history as the first non-English film to win the highest prize at the Academy. This breakthrough in the world of film recognition, with Oscars being the most coveted of them all, promises an exciting future and endless possibilities for Asian films and filmmakers. This excitement is perhaps incomparably felt by an Ilonggo filmmaker who is about to embark on a fellowship on Film Producing at the Busan Asian Film School (AFiS) in South Korea starting this March.
Bobby Rodriguez is an independent film producer from Iloilo who is one of the only 20 fellows chosen by AFiS all over Asia. With 209 applicants from 25 countries, Bobby aced the screening process together with another Filipino producer, Geoderic Lomuntad. This is the first time that AFiS has selected two fellows from the Philippines because of their ‘particularly outstanding’ qualities as film producers. Bobby and Geo are both representing the country and are fully supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines for this fellowship.
Bobby teaches Film, Advertising and TV Production at the University of the Philippines Visayas’ Division of Humanities. He has produced two full-length documentaries for ERK Productions – “Land from God” and “Daan Patungong Tawaya.”The former was selected for a world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival in 2018 and the latter was a finalist to the Sinesaysay Docu Lab and Showcase 2018 by the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
Busan Asian Film School is set in Asia’s first UNESCO designated City of Film, Busan. With focus on producing, the international film business education will be administered in selecting the best and talented professionals as instructors in each field among Korea and Asia. Instructors will mentor students on all aspects of the film industry, including pitching projects, production, and leading into investment. It’s worth noting that one of the mentors in AFiS, Darcy Paquet, is the English language subtitle translator for “Parasite.”
With South Korea now in the forefront of global attention in the filmmaking industry, Bobby looks forward to learning from the best film mentors and hopes to seal co-production agreements with film funders from all over the world. He plans to produce films that will promote regional cinema – films that reflect local aesthetics and cultural diversity, while appealing to the global market. Bobby is excited to collaborate with Ilonggo filmmakers as he can serve as a bridge to international co-productions after the fellowship. This will redefine regional filmmaking in Western Visayas and who knows, the next Oscars big winner might just come from this neighborhood./PN
