Out of the 41 films submitted by 148 Filipino high schools students, three films are chosen to represent the Philippines in the 2012 Asian International Children's Film Festival this November 24, 2012 in Japan.
Through the joint screening of the Japan Information and Culture Center (JICC) of the Embassy of Japan and the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) , the top three films are as follows:
“Hope in Despair”
Anna Francesca Coronel, Celina Dimaculangan, Beatrice Valenzuela
(St. Paul Pasig)
“Case to Case”
Jacob Aaron Echague, Christopher David Mercado, Diego Roberto Torres
(La Salle Greenhills)
“Footbridge”
James Francis Conda, Kyle Robert Paul Vergara
(San Beda College Alabang)
For the past six years, the Asian International Children Film Festival has been bringing together students with passion for film making. Students from Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, and Myanmar are invited to take part in the competition and visit Japan, strengthening international relations among the youth in these Asian countries.
The eight finalists will be staying in Japan from November 20 to 25, 2012 , and will be competing in the international contest on November 24, 2012. They are also scheduled to visit key sites in Japan, including disaster-affected areas to personally witness the reconstruction efforts in the wake of the March 11 disaster last year. All expenses will be borne by the Government of Japan through the recently launched “ Youth-Exchange Project with Asia-Oceania and North America” , or the KIZUNA Project .
The Kizuna Project, the word kizuna meaning “bonds”, will invite more than 10,000 youths from the Asian/Oceanian regions, including 285 Filipinos, to have an opportunity to participate in specially designed programs. The project was approved by the Japanese Diet as a part of the third supplementary budget in November 2011, and will be implemented by the end of March 2013.
