Student film to represent PHL in Paris LGBTQ film festival
A STUDENT film on the coming-out experience of Filipino youths has been accepted at the Chéries Chéris Festival du Filme LGBTQ, a film fiesta focused on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals, is set from Nov. 14 to 21 in Paris, France.
Yakap by Margo Manalo, a Digital Filmmaking alumna of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), focuses on the reality of coming out of the closet in the Philippines.
“I wanted to write a different reality that LGBTQ people face, since we usually see coming-out stories that deal with two extremes: either your family is completely accepting, or they turn you away,” she said. “But the reality, I knew, was somewhere in the middle,” she added.
This was Manalo’s undergraduate film thesis, under the mentorship of multi-awarded director and scriptwriter and DLS-CSB faculty Jose Javier Reyes. It will be screened at the Mk2 Quai de Loire and Mk2 Beaubourg Theaters.
Now on its 23rd year, Chéries Chéris was conceptualized in 1994 as a venue for original productions that center on gay experiences. It has since given out a number of recognitions for deserving productions.
