Philippine entry competes in Bilbao filmfest for the first time

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Philippine entry competes in Bilbao filmfest for the first time

After existing for close to half a century now, the 48th Bilbao International Festival of Documentary and Short Films (ZINEBI) in Spain finally selected a Filipino short film in its international competition. With 2,615 film submissions, "Lababo" (Kitchen Sink), co-directed by Seymour Barros Sanchez and Ginalyn Dulla, made it to the 93 finalists chosen from 42 countries, 53 of which are fiction, 20 documentaries, and 20 animations. Sanchez, an advocacy filmmaker, attended the event.

Jon Ibarluzea Sanchez (no relation to one of the directors), City Councilor for Arts and Culture of Bilbao, noted that "ZINEBI has been playing its dual role in an exemplary way, on one hand as an observatory enabling us to explore other cinema, cultural, social, and political realities. In this context, some countries are taking part for the first time this year, such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Malaysia, and the Philippines. On the other hand, it has been a shop window allowing us to show our own realities to the outside world."

"Lababo" covers significant dates concerning the Philippines' relationship with the United States. Parallel to these events are the lives of two Filipinas (Nerissa Icot and Virnie Tolentino) who fall for the same American soldier (Stephen Patrick Moore).

The short film comes at a time when the Philippines is taking a closer look at the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement in the wake of the conviction of US Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith for the rape of a Filipina at the Subic Bay Freeport last November 2005.

Bilbao City Hall, in cooperation with the Bizkaia Provincial Council, the Basque Government Department of Culture and the Ministry of Culture (ICAA) and the Foreign Ministery (AECI) hosted the 48th Bilbao Film Festival from November 27 to December 2. The International Federation of Associations of Film Producers (FIAPF) recognizes ZINEBI as an international event of a competitive nature.

Radu Jude's Lampa Cu Caciula, a 22-minute Rumanian road-movie about the relationship between a father and his son and the importance of the small things of life, won the grand prize of the Bilbao Festival. Tsivia Barkai's Vika (Israel) and Victoria Gamburg's Twilight (United States/Russia) have been awarded with the Silver Mikeldi and Golden Mikeldi, respectively, in the fiction category.

American independent filmmaker James Benning chaired ZINEBI's international jury, with Cuban director and scriptwriter Manuel Pérez Paredes, Israeli animator Gili Dolev, and Spanish filmmaker Chus Gutiérrez as members.

ZINEBI provided a wide range of screen venues for the festival with the Arriaga Theatre being the main venue, followed by the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts, Bilborock Concert Hall, Barrainkua Civic Centre, El Ensanche Cultural Centre, Plaza del Teatro Arriaga, Bidarte Civic Centre, Getxo Cultural Centre, Orozko Cultural Centre, Guridi Theatre (Vitoria-Gasteiz) , and Universidad del Pais Vasco.