CCC and OMLC Launch Klima Film Festival

Last July 8, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) and the Oscar M. Lopez Center (OMLC) launched Klima Film Festival, a series of online workshops designed to train young filmmakers in producing short films on climate issues and sustainable development.

According to Climate Change Commissioner Rachel Anne Herrera, the film festival will be a venue for both the application and sharing of the youth’s knowledge on climate change. “Through this key film festival of KFF, we aim to utilize short films as a medium to show how the lives of the Filipinos are affected by climate change, and to spur action. This is also to recognize the vital role of the young people who will inherit the planet in championing climate justice and sustainable development.”

Applicants will form production teams, each with a maximum of ten members aged 16 to 22. Team representatives can register online until July 31, 2020. “Those young people who are aged fifteen but turning sixteen during the festival can actually be part of the team. But young people less than eighteen years old need parental consent,” CCC’s Ludwig Federigan clarifies.

Five teams will be chosen from the National Capital Region, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, completing the 20 teams that will be trained on climate change concepts and science-based storytelling. The five to seven-minute short films should not contain violence, explicit scenes, and foul language, and will be submitted on or before October 23. The top ten finalists will be judged by the CCC, OMLC, and distinguished patrons of arts and culture during the National Climate Consciousness Week in November. 

The remaining group finalists will each get a consolation prize of Php 5,000. Special awards with a pot money of Php 3,000 will be given to the following: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Musical Scoring, Best Performance, Best in Research and Content, Audience Choice Award, Best Poster, and Most Liked Teaser.

Ludwig explains that the they are open to collaborate with the press in showing the films  to be able to reach a wider audience. “There is already an ongoing discussion with the Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education to use these films as supplementary materials”.

OMLC Associate Director Perpi Tiongson also emphasizes safety during film production. “We’ll still abide by the general guidelines of the quarantine. We’d like to think that our situation should not prevent creative minds from telling a story. I don’t think that you need to go out in order to produce a short film. I think this calls to your creative juices in producing a story within the confines of your home.”

For more details, visit the official Facebook page of the Climate Change Commission at facebook.com/CCCPhl, or its website at climate.gov.ph/events/klima-film-festival.