3 Pinoy short films are nominees in Bangkok ASEAN film fest 2020

Fifteen films from various countries were chosen as finalists in the Short Film Competition of the 2020 Bangkok ASEAN Film Festival (BAFF) — three of them were Filipino-made.

Making it to the list are Sonny Calvento’s “Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss,” a social satire on contractual workers’ plight in the Philippines; Carla Pulido Ocampo’s “Tokwifi,” a story between a 1950s mestiza star trapped inside a television that fell from the sky and a Bontok Igorot man, and Joanna Vasquez Arong’s “To Calm the Pig Inside,” a contemplation on the effects of the Super Typhoon “Yolanda (Haiyan)” that hit the Philippines in 2013.

“Tokwifi” recently bagged the Best Film award and the Netpac Jury Prize in this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, while “To Calm the Pig Inside” or “Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos” won the Special Jury Prize.

The three Filipino short films will compete against the 12 other entries from Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

These are Koo Chia Meng’s “Andrew,” Aung Phyoe’s “Cobalt Blue,” Sorayos Prapapan’s “Digital Funeral: Beta Version,” Amit Dubey’s “A Fallen Fruit,” Pham Hoang Minh Thy’s “The Graduation of Edison,” Nelson Yeo’s “Here is Not There,” Prach Rojanasinwilai’s “Housemaid,” Henry and Harry Zhuang’s “jù rén,” Chuah Jie Xie’s “Lanny,” Taiki Sakpisit’s “Shadow and Act,” Pham Thien An’s “Stay Awake, be Ready,” and Phạm Ngọc Lan’s “The Unseen River.”

The winner for the Best ASEAN Short Film will be given a cash prize of $2,000 and a trophy, while the Jury Prize and Special Mention awardees will be given $1,000 and $500, respectively, along with trophies.

The opening ceremony of the 6th BAFF, organized by Thailand’s Ministry of Culture, will be held on September 3, Thursday, at the SF World Cinema in Bangkok and will end on September 6, Sunday, where winners will be announced.