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By Rhick Lars Vladimer Albay
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DECORATED Ilongga filmmaker Tara Illenberger – and her cast and crew – took home the top prize at the end of the 2017 TOFARM (Ten Outstanding Farmers of the Philippines Award) Film Festival in July, also raking in three other major awards for the Iloilo-set masterpiece “High Tide.”
The film received rave reviews and the Best Picture award, as well as bagging the Best Cinematography plum for Ilonggo filmaker TM Malones of “Salvi” fame, Best Editing (Michael Bayani Canino and Illenberger), as well as the Jury Prize for Best Performance as an Ensemble for young thespians Forrest Kyle Buscato, Christine Mary Demaisip, and Riena Christal Shin.
“High Tide” is the second installment of the multi-awarded Ilongga director’s “Treelogy” series of films, inspired by the 2017 TOFARM Film Festival theme: “Planting the seeds of change.”
Shot entirely in Iloilo and in Hiligaynon, “High Tide” stars Arthur Gonzalez Solinap, Sunshine Teodoro, Dalin Sarmiento and child actors Demaisip, Shin and Buscato.
“High Tide” talks about coastal-dwelling Filipinos whose lives are entwined with the rising and the ebbing of sea water. Consequently, their survival is also due to the presence of mangrove forests in the coastline.
“I think it will give the viewers a chance to see the reality,” shared Illenberger in a televised interview. “It’s a reality that a lot of Filipinos know, kase we have seven thousand islands eh. All these islands have coastal areas, and all these people living in the coastal areas they rely on fishing.
“Pero yung mga taga-city hindi masyado alam ang reality na yun, but [there is a] very clear and present danger [for these communities].”
With a P1-million grant from TOFARM Film Festival – to turn the story into a full-length film, Illenberger’s “High Tide” is set in the bangus farms and salt flats of Iloilo, mostly in the Municipality of Dumangas (as well as some parts of Iloilo City, Barotac Nuevo and Leganes).
The first film in Illenberger’s “Treelogy” series entitled “Brutus, ang paglalakbay” won the 2008 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival Special Jury Prize, the Netpac Award at the Hawaii International Film Festival, and the Best Asian Film plum at the Brussels International Independent Film Festival (as well as the Best Actor trophy for Yul Servo at the Belgium-based festival).
“High Tide” was also nominated for the following categories: Best Supporting Actor – Arthur Solinap, Best Supporting Actress – Dalin Sarmiento and Sunshine Teodoro, Best Sound – Alex Tomboc, Best Music – Nonong Buencamino, Best Production Design – Kiko Surmieda, Best Story – Tara Illenberger, Best Screenplay – Tara Illenberger, Best Director – Tara Illenberger.
The production was sponsored by Universal Harvester Inc., Bonfire Productions and the Philippine Forest Foundation. And also made possible through the enormous support of the Dumangas Local Government and the Monfort Foundation.
Meanwhile, TM Malones’ short film entitled “Bawod” has been chosen among the Cinemalaya 2017 Short Feature finalists set to premier this Aug. 4 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Starring veteran Ilonggo artist Allain Hablo and Diocel Marie Raso, “Bawod” tells the story of twelve-year-old Thirdy who has to deal with the realities of her difficult financial situation and ominous visions of a ghostly man, on the eve of her school’s annual talent show in a small rural village in the mountains of Iloilo./PN
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