CineMapúa is now an International Student Short Film Festival

Posted: December 27, 2022, 11:04 A.M.

CineMapúa on its 20^th year anniversary this 2022 becomes an international student film festival for the very first time. CineMapúa received 2,892 submitted film entries from 108 countries around the globe after the deadline for submission of entries last September 30, 2022. 

Only 50 finalists were selected to be the official entries in 4 different categories, 20 finalist for World Film Section (International Category); 15 finalists for Collegiate (Local Category); 10 finalists for All Mapúans (Local Category); and 5 finalists for High School (Local Category). These short film finalists will compete for Cardinal Gold Film Awards on March 13-18, 2023.   

“CineMapúa is highly recognized by various student filmmakers around the globe as a platform for delivering socio-cultural stories and conveying concepts that can influence people’s lives. By going international, we embrace global cultures, experiences, film techniques, visual styles, and different languages. It is an added excitement in celebrating CineMapúa’s 20th year this 2022,” said Benigno Agapito Jr., dean of Mapúa’s School of Media Studies and the founder of CineMapúa.

CineMapúa is an annual competition organized by Mapúa’s School of Media Studies, which began in 2002 as a classroom activity of its founder and now the dean of the School of Media Studies. It grew over the years and has since showcased films by students of Mapúa and of other local secondary schools and colleges. It aims to enhance students’ skills in film and production, create in them an awareness of the importance of film arts in the academe and the community, as well as its role in communicating advocacies and promoting values to viewers.

The competition this season includes four (4) categories, the World Short Film Section; the Collegiate Category; the All Mapúans Category; and the High School Category. The World Short Film Section is a category open to all foreign student-filmmakers worldwide, both college and high school students. The Collegiate Category is a category for college students from all universities & colleges in the Philippines. On the other hand, the All Mapúans Category is an exclusive category for Mapúa college, senior high school, and master students from Intramuros and Makati campuses in the Philippines. And finally, the High School Category is a category for senior and junior high school students from all universities, colleges & high schools in the Philippines.

“We establish CineMapúa as an elemental platform for showcasing inspiring narratives by students. Since our society has great and interesting stories to unfold, film is an innovative channel to communicate the experiences of students through visual storytelling,” shared Dean Agapito.

Several awards will be given away in the competition. Major awards are the Cardinal Gold, Cardinal Silver, and Cardinal Bronze films for each category, which comes with corresponding cash prizes and trophies. Special awards will also be given: Cardinal Best Performance of an Actor and Actress, Cardinal Best Director, Cardinal Best Screenplay, Cardinal Best Cinematography, Cardinal Best Film Editing, Cardinal Best Production Design, Cardinal Best Sound Design, Cardinal Best Original Soundtrack, Cardinal Best Film Teaser, Cardinal Best Film Poster, and Cardinal Audience Choice Award.

The student filmmakers submitted their entries via FilmFreeWay at https://filmfreeway.com/cinemapua. The submissions included the final films and the one-minute teasers, both in MP4 format, and the 16x20-inch film posters.