Tag: August 22, 2015

TACKLING the aftermath of super-typhoon “Yolanda/ Haiyan” in Tacloban City, Cannes best director and UST fine arts alumnus Brillante Mendoza has come up with a poignant semi-documentary fictional tale of survival and recovery in “Taklub,” which opened the 11th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Aug. 6.

WITH his wit and attitude, multi-awarded filmmaker Rommel “Milo” Tolentino, who released his most recent short film titled “Nenok” in this year’s Cinemalaya Festival, never ceases to fascinate his audience.

Tolentino, an independent filmmaker, hopes that viewers would be more aware and appreciative of the eye-awakening experience the local film industry offers.

“The fact that Filipino filmmakers get to make films that they want to do is already a winning predicament to the Philippine cinema. We should celebrate Filipino filmmakers and their films,” Tolentino said in an e-mail interview with the Varsitarian.

A Thomasian, Tolentino says UST has played an important role in the formation of his success.

Saksi ang puso

sa paghulma ng pagkatao ng bawat isa

sa kani-kaniyang kuwento

Pag-asa—

sa paandap-andap na sulo

na bitbit sa malayong paglalakbay,

munting liwanag na nagbibigay lakas para magpatuloy.

Pagkabigo,

sa tuluyang pagkapundi ng kapirasong

ilaw, pagbagsak sa kawalan

panlulumo, pagkalugmok

Poot,

sa mga alaala ng pagkabigong nagbabalik,

nambabagabag, nanggugulo,

siyang tumutubong buto ng pagngangalit at pait

Sa huli’y maglalaho ang lahat ng damdamin

sabay ng pagkawalang saysay

ng buhay na minsang nangarap

MEET Malaysia-based Thomasian architect Emmanuel “Manny” Canlas.

Manny was one of the architects who designed the iconic Petronas Twin Towers of Malaysia. His works also include parts of the Platinum Park in Kuala Lumpur, Queen’s Bay Complex in Penang and The Istana NurulIman in Brunei Darussalam.

Manny said joining the industry was not a piece of cake.

“Being a Thomasian architect always makes me feel I have the edge. I cannot explain that in technical details, but just the feeling of it,” he said.

“I’m very proud to be a Thomasian as I know, there was something special about being one.”

Looking back

Manny grew up in an artistically-inclined family. Painting was his first love, he said.

DISNEY Pixar’s newest crowd-puller, Inside Out, tells the story of an 11-year-old girl named Riley, who is coping with the changes brought by moving to a new city.

Her emotions come to life quite literally as Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger, who alternately take charge of her subconscious via control consoles.

Thanks to a UST graduate, we, and the rest of the world, now enjoy young Riley's journey on screen.

Ronaldo “Ronnie” Del Carmen, a UST Fine Arts graduate, made his own name in the animation industry as part of the story team on a number of Pixar Animation Studios film, such as the Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Up and now the Inside Out, which he co-directed.

TWO UST academicians are flying to Europe for prestigious scholarship grants.

After years of hard work and dedication in the field of research and education, Peter Emmanuel A. Mara, a faculty member at the Department of Philosophy, and Daniel D. Vicario, an assistant professor at the Department of Mathematics and Physics, are the only Southeast Asians to receive the prestigious Master Erasmus Mundus Europhilosophie and Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate Program for Experimental Physics by the European Union, respectively.

Deeply humbled by this scholarship grant, they believe that the program will not only guarantee the acquirement of higher degree, but would also pave the way in strengthening academic linkages between European universities and UST.

No one understood

why he indulged in the agony of

the pen, as he dragged it

across the ghostly sheet,

and spewed out emotion

line per line.

Once the verses had been finished,

came the

torture—to be corrected and

freed from error

by the master—

verses, slashed open with

every mistake,

until they bled scarlet, with the promise

of being better.

No one understood

his masochistic endearment

to punishment and healing,

why he took delight in the vicious cycle

he had to live with.

To others, he had gone mad

FILIPINO Dominicans marked the solemnity of their spiritual father St. Dominic de Guzman last Aug. 8, as they looked forward to marking the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Dominican Order in 2016.

Holy Masses were held at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, headquarters of the Dominican Province of the Philippines, as well as at the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas and Colegio de San Juan de Letran de Manila, two important Dominican centers of higher learning.

At the massive shrine of Santo Domingo, Franciscans led the Eucharistic celebration, following a tradition among Dominicans and Franciscans that the leaders of each mendicant order preside over the commemoration of the feast of the founder of the other order.

CATHOLICISM has invaded the comic-book genre.

A group of devout Catholics is set to launch a comic-book series featuring an unlikely band of young heroes out to defeat the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

The message: Christian life requires catechism, prayer, and receiving the sacraments regularly, which are also the best weapons against demonic possessions and threats from evil spirits.

Patron Comics, written by pro-life advocate Anthony James Perez and published by Regina Caeli Publishing, deals with the popular theme of the occult to target young readers and thrill-seekers, but contains messages from Christ’s Gospel and the teachings of the Church.

TO BRING the study of Christian beliefs closer to the faithful, a theology crash course is now being offered at the UST Graduate School every fourth Sunday of the month.

Conducted by Fr. Jose Antonio Aureada, O.P., regent of the UST Graduate School, the theology course is considered an extension course of the Faculty of Sacred Theology. The first session was held at the Graduate School last July 26.

Topics include Synthesis of Fundamental Theology, Biblical Theology and the New Evangelization.

According to Louie Hermosa, one of the organizers, the three-unit course is open to all college graduates who wish to study theology “in a deeper sense.”