Power Mac Center showcases short films created using just iPhone

Globally renowned independent film director Brillante Mendoza believes that good filmmakers should never use lack of resources as an excuse to create good films. This was his main message when he delivered a speech during the awarding ceremony of Cinemansanas 2017—a component of Pixelworx campaign, Power Mac Center’s advocacy to recognize artists who break the standards of the art scene.

Mendoza, a best director awardee of Cannes Film Festival, was tapped to spearhead the program’s Masterclass sessions, wherein shortlisted budding filmmakers were taught of effective acting, directing, and cinematography techniques.

“Resources should never be a hindrance,” said Mendoza. “Whether using a celluloid or an iPhone, you can make a good movie as long as the material and your attitude are good.” He underlined the importance of having a positive and ‘can-do’ mindset to produce ideal outputs.

Pixelworx: Cinamansanas culminated through a public screening (held at Cinema 7 of SM Mall of Asia Cinema) of all 33 short films created by budding filmmakers who took the challenge to create movies using just their iPhones. After the screening, winners of the competition in two major categories were announced.

The winners in both categories were selected based on presentation creativity and technical quality. The panel of judges was comprised of Mendoza, Rebelde Film Camp founder J.E. Tiglao, veteran director Yam Laranas, and multi-awarded scriptwriter and author Ricky Lee.

The first category, ‘Do you have a minute?’ featured 12 one-minute short films shot using iPhones. Check out the videos of the winning entries here:

Gold Awardee: ‘An Artist’s Ode’ by Krista Ortega

Platinum Awardee: ‘Mayo Uno’ by Winston Salvejos

Diamond Awardee: ‘Balat Sibuyas’ by Don Diaz

Meanwhile, there were 21 finalists to the second category, ‘Masterclass with Brillante Mendoza,’ wherein shortlisted participants were briefly trained by the award-winning director himself before filming their entries. All entries were also created using just an iPhone.

The winners were:

Power Mac Center Citation Award: ‘981 Million Thousand Dangkal’ by Lino Balmes