8 Filipino high school students to compete in Japan’s children filmfest

MANILA, Philippines—Eight Filipino high school student filmmakers will represent the Philippines in a prestigious film festival in Japan, the Japanese embassy in Manila announced Friday.

Out of the 41 entries submitted by 148 Filipino high school students, three films were chosen to compete in the 2012 Asian International Children’s Film Festival to be held in November 24 in Japan, the embassy said.

The participants and their chosen films are as follows:

* Anna Francesca Coronel, Celina Dimaculangan, and Beatrice Valenzuela, all from St. Paul College in Pasig, were picked for their film “Hope in Despair;”

* Jacob Aaron Echague, Christopher David Mercado, and Diego Roberto Torres, all from La Salle Greenhills, were chosen for their film “Case to Case;”

* James Francis Conda and Kyle Robert Paul Vergara, both from San Beda College, Alabang were picked for their film “Footbridge.”

The films were screened by the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) of the Japanese Embassy and the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI).

The eight finalists will be in Japan from November 20 to 25 to compete with other students from Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Myanmar, it said.

The embassy said that for the past six years, Japan has been inviting students to “strengthen international relations among youth in these Asian countries.”

Aside from participating in the contest, the embassy said the students were also scheduled to visit key sites in Japan, particularly those affected by Great East Japan earthquake last year, under the Kizuna Project.

Kizuna, which means “bonds” in Japanese, aims to invite more than 10,000 youths from the Asian and Oceanian regions to Japan in the wake of the deadly earthquake that occurred on March 11, 2011, the Japanese embassy said.

“The program will allow the participants to experience first-hand the efforts underway at disaster sites that are dynamically engaged in recovery initiatives, and to promote better understanding on the reconstruction in Japan,” it said.

The embassy said that a total of 285 Filipinos would be invited under the programs.