FILMS ON ANTS, MICROPLASTICS WIN IN 4TH INDIE-SIYENSYA
Stories on animals like ants, pawikan and fishes surely catch the attention of children, while those on environment and illnesses, such as microplastic pollution, schistosomiasis and E. coli bacteria make young scientists curious.
Putting these subjects into well- crafted films would surely make them winners.
And they did.
The films “Into the Minuscule World of Ants” by Heinrich Domingo of Quezon, Isabela, and “Sansala” by Cyah Angela Somblingo of the youth organization Focus Cavite, were hailed as the Best Films in the Open and Youth Categories, respectively, in the Four th Indie- Siyensya Filmmaking Competition.
They won against a total of 23 entries in the Open Category, and 55 entries in the Youth group in this year’s theme “Communities Beyond the Naked Eye.”
The winners were announced recently in an online awarding ceremony, which premiered live in the Department of Science and TechnologyScience Education Institute’s ( DOST- SEI ) social media page.
They were judged based on the criteria of scientific content, idea execution, film technique and impact.
Open category
“In to the Minuscule World of Ants” documents the growing ant- keeping community in the Philippines led by Youtube personality, Mikey Bustos.
Filmmaker Domingo said that making the film made him realize the presence of many scientific groups and communities that are not popularly shown in the media.
“My exposure to the ant- keeping community showed me that there are hundreds of Filipinos venturing into scientific fields like biology that remain unseen. Shooting this documentary film made me see the alternative avenues where science is learned,” he said.
He said he is honored to have competed against great films with equally interesting tales and narratives, and that the win will inspire him to make more films.
“Our communities are filled with stories that need to be told. We do not need to chase stories. Instead, our local tales and narratives are more than enough to make captivating films,” said Domingo, who earned P100,000 cash prize and a trophy.
Coming in second in the Open Category was “Pauwikan,” a documentary about the nature and diversity of the turtle sanctuary in San Juan, La Union, done by Gerylle Vanmarie Palabay of the Film and Media Arts International Academy.
Winning Third is Edward Laurence Opena of Opena Cinematics/ Cebu Normal University for his film, “The Man Who Talks to Fishes.”
It narrates how a man enabled the Gilutongan Marine Sanctuary to become one of the country’s top marine sanctuaries. They won P50,000 and P30,000 cash prizes, respectively.
Palabay’s “Pauwikan” also secured the Viewers’ Choice Award for receiving the highest number of votes during the film screenings. The film won P20,000 cash prize for the special award.
Youth category
On the Youth Category ,“Sans ala” tackles microplastic pollution in Dalahican, Cavite City. The documentary film explore show microplastics gravely affect the environment and the people relying on the sea for livelihood.
Somblingo, who is a second- timer in the competition, referred to the win as their team’s “comeback victory” after placing second last year for their film, “Lambat.” This time, they bagged the P100,000 cash prize and the top trophy.
Their team considers the opportunity to echo to the residents of Dalahican the results of their microplastic experiment done during the making of the film as their most memorable experience.
“Educating people is something we really enjoy. And being able to reach the hear ts of thousands of people through a single film was like living a dream,” she added.
Completing the Top 3 in the Youth
Category are the films“Sisto” by Ma. Diana B alansag from Bukidnon National School of Home Industries at Second Place, and “Beyond: Escherichia coli” by Juliana Milan bil en from Tag aytay City Science National High School at Third Place.
“Sisto” depicts the problems encountered by the people of Barangay San Miguel in Maramag, Bukidnon, with the schistosomiasis, while “Beyond: Escherichia coli” tackles the unseen community of the E. Coli bacteria and its nature.
The films won P50,000 and P30,000 cash prizes, respectively.
A project of Department of Science and Technology- Science Education Institute, DOSTSEI Director Dr. Josette Biyo congratulated the winners and finalists for taking the competition to another level with the quality and messaging they gave.
“We’re very happy with the films we received this year and we’re especially impressed by how they tell their stories effectively and in a manner that does not stay away from science,” Biyo said.
She added: “We envision our scientists to be able to communicate their works effectively, and film is definitely a great platform. For this, we’re very proud of our contestants.”
Now on its four th run, Indie- Siyensya remains one of DOST- SEI ’s main platforms to promote a culture of science in the country. The competition is also the agency’s response to the growing field of science communication by using film as a medium of information dissemination and behavioral change.
This year’s Board of Judges include Dr. Garry Jay Montemayor of the College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños ( UPLB); Director Seymour Sanchez from the De La Salle- College of Saint Benilde, and Far Eastern University; Prof. Patrick Campos, director of the UP Film Institute; renowned entomologist Dr. Aimee Lynn Dupo of the UPLB Museum of Natural History; and Dr. Ruby Cristobal of DOST- SEI .