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`Tribu' wins Pari de L'Avenir Award
Crispina Martinez-Belen, THE MANILA BULLETIN

    The indie movie "Tribu," produced and directed by Jim Libiran, won the Pari de L'Avenir" (meaning "We Bet that the Film Will be a Classic") award from a jury of students and from a film reviewer from the film magazine Positif.

    "Tribu" will now be promoted for possible distribution in France. An ecstatic Jim said "to be recognized in the city where cinema was born, this is immensely reassuring."

    He explained lengthily: "A lot of people prayed hard for this. The Lord heard all our prayers. The Tondo kids yearn for respect; the indie musicians, rappers, rock singers, theater actors and the talented Tondo residents who joined the cast of `Tribu,' they all yearn for respect and recognition of their talents and time, they yearn to show the world how talented we are. To all of them, I say, the young culture-loving people of Paris, of France, all respect, recognize, reaffirm that yes, the music-making, filmmaking, and acting talents of Filipinos are world-class."

    It's very encouraging to know that the works of young Filipino filmmakers are appreciated more abroad, especially in the international film festivals where they are invited to participate in. At the 6th Paris Cinema International Film Festival, we saw how interested the foreign movie buffs were to see the Filipino films exhibited at the MK2 Bibliotheque. Even the movies of the late Joey Gosiengfiao, most notably "Temptation Island," drew sizable crowds. At the special screening of Judy Ann Santos' movie "Ploning," we watched with pride a queue of foreigners eager to see the movie, even if it was scheduled for showing quite late, at 10:30 p.m., at the Balzac Theatre.


HOW `Tribu' CAME INTO BEING

    The indie movie "Tribu" was the Filipino film in competition at the Paris Cinema 1FF, and of course we found ourselves (Mother Lily, Roselle M. Teo, Ric Camaligan and his wife Marilyn and daughter Maries) morally obliged to see it. My companions went ahead of me and it has just started showing when I got into the moviehouse, and as I tried to find a seat in the dark, I slipped. Good thing I didn't sprain my ankle; my feet just ached from a little swelling the day after.

    Christine S. Dayrit, head of the Cinema Evaluation Board under the Film Development Council of the Philippines which sponsored the Philippine participation to the film festival, came to my room at the Mercure Hotel the following day. She (bless her!) brought with her a liniment and rubbed it on my sore feet. And a few hours after, though limping a little, my feet were ready for some walking again.

    Anyway, going back to "Tribu," Jim Libiran, the film's creator, said the film came about all because of his four-year-old son. He wanted his son to study at Ateneo and to be able to afford it, he should be a teacher at the renowned university first so he could get discounted tuition fees for his, he said. But to be able to apply for a teaching job at Ateneo, he should have a master's degree. So he enrolled at UP to obtain a master's degree in filmmaking. He had Armando Lao for professor in scriptwriting.

    It was then that he wrote the script for "Tribu." It won in a scriptwriting contest in 2006, he made it into a film from a P500,000 grant (total filming budget went up to P2 million) and won awards from the Cinemanila International Film Festival (where the whole cast was named Best Actor/Best Actress).

    The story of "Tribu" is fiction but based on the lives of the characters and done docu-style; after all, Jim was a documentary filmmaker when he was still with ABS-CBN.

    Now he's manager of public affairs at ABC 5. Jim is an Arts & Letters graduate from UST. Ever since he was four years old, he has wanted to direct a film, he said. He realized this dream at age 38 (he's now 41), "and all because of my son." Jim is now making a name as a filmmaker and whatever glory he's basking in now, he owes it all to his son.

    Part of Jim Libiran's speech went: "I come from a country where, for decades, people have been leaving for greener pastures. Its heartbreaking, but we didn't know that by doing so, we were slowly exporting love and care. Now we are exporting our culture and arts. In front of me and behind me is a whole army of Filipino talents. And not only that, as you have experienced here in the Festival Paris Cinema, Filipinos can fill your movie houses. We are a potent, profitable force. Let us continue appreciating and a potent, profitable force. Let us continue appreciating and supporting each other's culture, and we will give you 81 million more moviegoers… Because, through this recognition, through this award, THE FILIPINOS ARE INVISIBLE NO MORE."

    Jim Libiran's short speech was translated by festival president/French superstar Charlotte Rampling. Jim was wearing a black barong designed by Francis Libiran (his cousin), paired with stone-washed jeans, leather shoes. The award PARI DE L'AVENIR (Bet for the future), was given at the MK2 cinema, Bibliotheque National Francois Mitterand, 13th arrondisement, Paris.


PARIS PROJECT WORKSHOPS

    Part of the Paris Cinema IFF is the Paris Project Workshops where international partnerships among filmmakers and producers are developed. The workshops promote and strengthen networking among people from different countries in order to enhance collaboration, sales and co-production ventures.

    Last year, a Workshop for Producers was launched wherein producers are invited to attend a three-day workshop to meet with international experts and the Paris

    Project participants. Organized for them are special courses on European funding systems, legal matters, television acquisition policies, and description of the European market. During the course of the workshop, the filmmakers/producers will pitch in their movie projects in development to potential partners.

    It was for this that we saw several young Filipino filmmaker/producers at the Paris Cinema IFF, like Arleen Cuevas of Bicycle Pictures (movie in the making is "Adela," starring Anita Linda and directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr., "Kalayaan," also by Alix, "Manila," by Alix and Raya Martin), Margie Templo of Arkeo Films ("Baby Angelo," "Lakad ni Sammy" "Akyat-baba, Paikot- Ikot," "Kano: The American and His Women," a docu feature by Monster Jimenez).

    Also there were former congresswoman Ms. Imee R. Marcos and former top model Bessie Badilla who've teamed up to produce "Flying Aswang" for their company CreaM (Creative Media) and Film Society of the Philippines. CreaM is a "private sector initiative whose goal is to sustain competitiveness of the creative resources in the Philippines and to strengthen collaborative efforts with Southeast Asia and the global community in creative media space." Bessie said they were there "to seek partnership for the production and distribution of creative media products and services."

    Of great help to the Filipino filmmakers are Jeremy Segay, program director, and film critic Max Tessier who along with producer Arleen Cuevas and directors Auraeus Solito and Jade Castro, spoke about the new Independent Filipino Cinema in one of the workshops. Tessier loves the Philippines so much he has stayed in the country for more than a decade.