They say that brevity is an art. This year’s Shorts B entries, the second set of the Cinemalaya Film Festival’s short film category, exemplified this through out-of-the-box techniques and unconventional storytelling. Here’s an equally succinct recap of this year’s Shorts B entries:
Warning: May contain spoilers.
#1: Butas (HOLE) – About sacrificial love.
There is nothing more heartbreaking than a mother’s sacrificial love for her child. This film illustrates the life of a mother who struggles to provide for her child as a miner in Benguet.
#2: Ang Hapon ni Nanding (Nanding’s Afternoon) – About an afternoon routine.
Routines, if you are not careful, can make your life predictable and dull. A break from routine can be surprising and, at the same time, make life exciting.
#3: Get Certified – About the afterlife and second chances.
A fantasy comedy film that plays with the idea of wanting to become someone else and yet not being cut out for it. The souls in the afterlife were given a chance to resurrect in someone else’s body and choose the path they want to take.
#4: Fish Out of Water – About knowing your identity.
Unless you know and accept who you are, then you will find yourself being tossed here and there. Your identity determines your behavior. When you know who you are, you know which path you need to take in life.
#5: Forever Natin (Our Forever) – About forbidden love.
Forbidden love is always attractive to some people even when they know that it won’t last forever. This film depicts a lesbian couple (Karen and Pat) trying to keep their relationship intact with a yearly contract for the past seven years. But on the seventh year, Pat gave Karen her “real” forever.