TWO FACULTY of Arts and Letters alumni are set to hit the big screen in 2025 with their collaborative full-length film in the 21st edition of Cinemalaya next year.
Out of 199 submissions, journalism graduate Keavy Vicente and literature alumna Nigel Santos made it into the top 10 full-length film finalists of the independent film festival.
Titled “Open Endings,” the film is Santos’s directorial debut and Vicente’s second in the yearly festival.
“It has always been my dream, as a young filmmaker, to be part of the Cinemalaya lineup.” Vicente told the Varsitarian. “I really wanted to do my part as a writer to make sure that the stories of queer women are told as authentically as possible by someone who is queer.”
The film follows the friendship of four queer women in their 30s who dated one another at different times. One’s major life decision catches the others by surprise.
“Most queer films in Philippine cinema focus on first love or coming-of-age, but there’s this whole culture in the queer world where people stay friends even after being lovers,” Santos said.
Vicente said queer women are usually stigmatized when they stay friends with their ex-lovers.
“These things make the relationship of queer women seem shallow. But there are so many facets to these relationships that deserve to be explored and understood,” the journalism graduate said.
Vicente and Santos went through a mentorship program under award-winning filmmaker Carlos Seguion-Reyna along with the 19 other semifinalists before making it to the top 10.
Finalists are expected to receive a P1-million seed production grant.
The 10 full-length films will be screened next year from Aug. 1 to 10. Sophia Andrea T. Reyes
