GLOBAL FILM EXPERTS SEE PROMISE IN PHL CINEMA, URGE BIGGER SUPPORT

Film experts from around the world who attended the recently concluded FEST Film Lab shared their personal assessments of the Filipino film community, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses, as well as offering insights on how the industry could be improved.

- By CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG

The inaugural six-day training program, held in the Philippines, was mounted in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and the FEST Film Lab headed by Filipe Pereira.

The 2025 FEST Film Lab featured five specialized workshops, such as, Film Editing Workshop with Alex Rodriguez, Auditioning for Film and TV with Nancy Bishop, Production Design with Andrew McAlpine and Gemma Jackson, Telling the Story with Sound: A Workshop with Mark Ulano and Patrushkha Mierzwa and Film Financing in an Entrepreneurial Age Workshop with Paul Miller.

The mentors imparted their knowledge and expertise to the Filipino filmmakers who participated in the workshop.

During the presscon, The STAR asked each of the global industry experts about their opinions on the Filipino film community and the recommendations they could offer to further strengthen the local industry.

‘COMMONALITY OF CINEMA PSYCHOLOGY’

Ulano noted that the "passion and dedication to the art form of telling stories" is present and is thriving.

As per the media release, Ulano has been recording sound for film professionally since 1976 and collaborated with Quentin Tarantino for 28 years. A four-time Oscar nominee, most recently for "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood," "Ad Astra" and "Inglorious Basterds," he earned an Academy Award for Sound Mixing for "Titanic" and the Cinema Audio Society Award for Best Sound Mixing for a Feature Film. His work can also be heard in "Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and Martin Scorsese’s "Killers of the Flower Moon."

Ulano observed the "commonality of cinema psychology" among the diverse group of attendees during the program. "That is universal internationally. So, there was a lot of commonality in that regard. And that was great because it allowed us to kind of get to the meat of things quickly."