The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
The Fantastic Film School (FFS) of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) in Bucheon City, South Korea is one of the most established and credible film academies in Asia or even the world although I haven’t been to other international film festivals with schools on filmmaking.
The Philippines has been very visible in the annual genre film school.
For the record, I was the very first Filipino filmmaker who was accepted at the academy in 2011.
(I’ll tell the full story later).
After me, I remember David R. Corpuz, the current Dean of School of Multimedia and Digital Arts of the Mapua Institute of Technology participated in the FFS before the COVID-19 pandemic.
After “Ordinary Things We Do,” a short film which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2014 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, David co-directed “Kusina” (2016) with Cenon Palomares, and both of them vied for the directorial award at the Full-Length section of the 12th Cinemalaya.
This year, at the 22nd Cinemalaya, Corpuz is on his solo stint as director in the same category for his work “Tayo Lang ang Nakakaalam” which stars Martin del Rosario, Madeleine Nicolas, Yayo Aguila, Miguel Odron, Bodjie Pascua, Bong Cabrera, Adrian Lindayag and Nour Hooshmand.
In 2018, David co-produced “Kuya Wes” with Ogie Alcasid, Piolo Pascual, Erickson Raymundo, Thop Nazareno, Ferdie Lapuz, Joyce Bernal etc. The film featured Ogie, Ina Raymundo, among others, and was screened at the 14th Cinemalaya.
During the pandemic when the world seemed to have halted, there was no face-to-face schooling but there were online classes at BIFAN FFS where the award-winning and academic filmmaker Richard Soriano Legaspi of “Paano Ko Sasabihin” fame in 2009 was a student from home.
Then came other young, impressive and dynamic scholars of FFS like Mihk Vergara and Stephen Lopez, Glenn Barit of “Cleaners” fame, Nickolas Red, the writer of “Dead Kids” and “Block Z” and now director of “The Post,” a genre film project that was officially selected at the 2024 BIFAN’s Network of Asian Fantastic Film (NAFF)’s “It Project,” a component of the festival that discovers emerging filmmakers.
Other FFS alumni include Stelle Laguda, a producer of KT House Productions, KC Contrevida whom I interacted when I was in BIFAN in 2023, Eloisa Palileo, Herlyn Alegre, Carla Ocampo, Marvin Lyndon Carmelo Matias, Hector Calma and Kim Tima.
Last year, two Filipino representatives were selected to be part of FFS, namely Shellane Kate Ong and Mary Zandra Brusola Villagracia.
In this edition of the 30th BIFAN, I notice that no single Filipino has entered the scholarship.
I looked into the official selections but most of them are non-Filipinos, namely Liu Zhiquan and Li Xingjian of China; Clare Chong and Zachary Yap of Singapore; Luca Pietro Beuthan of Germany/Italy; Prabhat Gurung of Nepal; Peng Ru-Ting of Taiwan; Ivan Mosqueda, Felsya Sunarjo and Herlangga Janottama of Indonesia; Maenum Chagasik of Thailand; THAN Ha Khanh Linh of Vietnam; CHU Sai Lun, LEE Chak Hang and LEUNG Kam Fai of Hong Kong; Lamia Ali of Yemen; YU Qingping of Canada; YAMABE Asako of Japan and KIM Hyejin, SON Heejeong, KIM Hayoung, RYU Soodong, JANG Sohyun, LEE Junsang, SHIM Ian, KIM Yeji, KIM Saebom and HEO Eunsun of Korea.
Missing a Filipino rep, I asked Jongsuk Thomas Nam, BIFAN Programmer why there’s no Filipino in the list of students but he was mum about it.
Have we run out of deserving film students to BIFAN despite the many young and struggling film artists in every nook and cranny of the country?
I hope not.
This year’s curriculum, billed as Global Course, particularly and uniquely focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) workmanship as a new medium of artistry.
In the course, concentration is on AI genre film production workshops for emerging filmmakers worldwide.
There is also the Creator Course which the Production Support Program encourages the Creators Expanding the Boundaries of Creativity through AI Technology.
For the University Course, there is an AI Content Workshop for Undergraduate and Graduate Students and AI content production workshop for university students.
Finally, for the Junior Course, FFS offers AI experience programs for Elementary, Middle. And High School Students.
It is a totally different learning pattern compared to the past academy educational thrusts.
I was at the NAFF FFS of the 15th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), formerly Pucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (PIFAN).
My inclusion to the 2011 FFS goes like this:
I was in the very first ASEAN Documentary Film Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2010 where I entered my documentary film “Dumagat” and won a consolation prize.
It was an enriching experience at the 1st ASEAN doc contest because I met a lot of Asian filmmakers from Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Korea.
One of the jurors was Cho Pockray, an erudite and esteemed film professional from South Korea. Cho was very happy when I won and said she was proud of my work although her other fellow judges, she confided, didn’t like my entry.
Cho was impressed when I told her that I just spent P5,000.00 for my doc.
She couldn’t believe it.
“I will write about it,” she beamed proudly.
Until now, she remembers my “Dumagat” film which she plans to stream in an app in Korea.
Cho asked me to send her an mp4 copy of my work, possibly with script in English and Filipino so she could translate to Korean.
I already rendered to a USB the copy of my work but there are still technical glitches that should be cured in post-prod especially some jolting parts of the video.
Anyway, my going to BIFAN was all because of Cho who told me to join the FFS.
At the time, I submitted my “Ang Manggagamot (Spiritual Healer)” doc as part of a reel requirement.
It was Tommy Nam who called me and asked if I could attend the FFS program.
Of course, I was elated.
BIFAN, at the time was called PIFAN, is a credible and the biggest genre filmfest in Asia.
I only had to pay for my airfare but the schooling, including food and lodging, was free.
All of us delegates from Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong and China were billeted in a five-star hotel in Bucheon City and we were treated very well.
Most of our mentors were global filmmakers like Tim Kwok, the producer several Jacky Chan films who lectured on film production and pitching; Mike Macari, a Hollywood producer who taught us networking and film exchange; Jonathan H. Kim who oriented us in co-production and copyright; David Kaplan, a famous international screenwriter, director and producer, among other teachers.
During our graduation, we were individually given the coveted Certificate of Completion intact in a sealed velvety envelope.
I still savor the information these film pros about the art and trade of world cinema had transmitted to me which I am raring to actualize despite limitations.
Indeed, I cherish FFS.