Sunday, November 17, 2013

CINEMAPUA: Students' Annual Film Festival for 12 years

CINEMAPUA  is an annual Short Film Festival of Mapua Institute of Technology, which showcases the skills of Mapuans in producing short film and in appreciating the value of film making. I conceptualized Cinemapua in Mapua Makati in 2003 as a student activity of the School of Languages, Humanities and Social Sciences (SLHS) in cooperation with the TheaterLinks, a student organization I had created in Mapua Makati campus. The legacy and academic value of Cinemapua had continued through the efforts of the SLHS Makati professors, until Mapua Administration considered Cinemapua to be an official institutionalized annual event in 2011.

Cinemapua 2011 was a perfect move to make the students’ film festivity more accessible to a bigger audience with SM Cinema as a partner, and during my conversation with SM Marketing officers they said they are open to be the major sponsor of Cinemapua short film festival annually.  

The Cinemapua has its Festival Organizing Committee both in Intramuros and Makati campuses with the cooperation of the Department of Multimedia Arts and Sciences (now School of Multimedia and Visual Arts). The Cinemapua also has its official student organization as festival co-handler, The Film Arts and Media Enthusiasts (FAME), the student organization in Mapua Intramuros campus which I had created to officially handle the various activities of the festival.

The Cinemapua aims to: 1) to enhance the Mapuans' awareness on the importance of film arts in the academe, community and the world as a whole; 2) to develop the skills of the Mapuans in using film technology as a tool for learning; 3) to educate the Mapuans about the basic concepts, principles and practices of film arts and visual communication; and 4) to promote values through film production.

The Cinemapua also serves as a training ground for Mapuans to compete in the national and international film festivals. The CINEMALAYA provided Cinemapua winners the slots in 2011 and 2012 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as exhibition films. And they have promised that they will give the annual slots for Cinemapua winners in the Cinemalaya Independent Festival.

Cinemapua is open to all students of Mapua Institute of Technology, Intramuros and Makati campuses. The competition has two (2) phases: The film script phase and the film production phase.  All submitted short film scripts will be screened to select the Top 16 best scripts to join the Official Entries in the annual CineMapua. Only the top 16 scripts will be allowed to proceed to the second phase of the competition, which is the actual film production.

Cinemapua is getting bigger every year and next year’s Cinemapua is expected to launch a different student film festival with quality film stories and excellent film productions.


VIVA MAPUA!




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