Here are the six official entries of the second To Farm Film Festival this coming July 12-18, the festival will be screened atSM Megamall, SM Manila, Greenbelt 1, Robinson's Galleria, and Gateway Mall.
1. BAKLAD by Topel Lee
Synopsis: A coming of age story of a fishpen boy who is learning to dream big, triggered by his sexual awakening from his boss’ new lover. He starts to find ways to elope with the woman. But his dreams will only produce devastating results, not only for him but also for people around him.
This is the story of one of the most neglected people in the Philippine workforce and society — the fishpen boys. They give us the fish we eat every day, but we never know that like the fishes, they are also drowning in sorrow and dreams of breaking free from the nets of poverty and swim towards freedom.
2. HIGH TIDE by Tara Barrera Illenberger
Synopsis: When Unyok lost both his parents to super-typhoon Ising, he lost his ability to speak. He and his family used to live in a small island with about 20 other families, but due to climate change, the sea level has become so erratic and dangerously high that the small island has become a “no-man’s-land”. As a disaster risk-reduction measure, the local government forcibly resettled all the families to the mainland.
Now, he lives in the mainland coastal village with his friends Dayday and Laila. Every low-tide they would go look for clams together in the shoreline. What little income they would get from selling clams they would give to their father, Tibor, who does back-breaking labor in the bangus fishpond of a rich man.
When the girls’ mother becomes seriously ill, they frantically search for clams to help their father with the increasing hospital expense. Unfortunately, the supply of clams in the mainland coastline anymore is depleting.
In an attempt to help, Unyok leads the girls to cross his old island just when the tide is incredibly low. They discover that there’s an abundance of clams in the deserted island. But can the children go home safely before the high tide comes back in?
3. INSTALADO by Jason Paul Laxamana
Synopsis: Quick knowledge…. ready ka na ba maging instalado???
‘Instalado’ is a social science fiction set in a farming village in the not-so-distant future. Victor lives in a time when the dominant form of education is through installation, a process wherein bodies of knowledge can be installed directly into people’s brains using technology owned by big corporations
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However, like many others in the agricultural town of Porac, Victor cannot afford the sky-high cost of installation; which he believes is the key to escape his rural life. To raise money for installation, Victor abandons farming and works as the housekeep of a wealthy childhood friend who has become extremely successful after undergoing a series of installations.
4. KAMUNGGAY by Vic Acedillo Jr.
Synopsis: Lolo Peping (65) built his backyard farm in his hometown in Mindanao, out of vegetable scraps or whatever edible plant life he could find in the garbage heap. His neighbors get free food from his garden while he does all the work. They don’t even bother to pay him or say thank you. So Lolo Peping decided to put a bamboo fence around his garden to keep neighbors out.
It was for him a good decision because he enjoyed the peace in his garden for a while, until one day a ten year-old boy, Kenken, invades his garden. The cute pain-in-the-ass little boy turns out to be his brother’s grandson. Even though he is not very fond of the wayward boy, he invites Kenken and his mother, Inday (30) to live with him because he lives alone.
Then after less than a week the boy’s mother disappears completely, abandoning his son and leaving the boy to Lolo Peping’s care. With a new unexpected responsibility, Lolo Peping tries his best to befriend Kenken. But how do you make friends with someone you hate and hates you back? Well, the malunggay tree can do amazing things, other than cure cancer.
5. SINANDOMENG by Byron Bryant
Synopsis: When her husband unexpectedly died, Sinang had to take over their farm. A strong-willed daughter of an old farmer, she has the heart and the touch. While her sisters consider selling their inherited parcels of the land to a subdivision developer, Sinang firmly refuses to sell hers. Resolutely, she plows it, nurse the rice seeds, going through the whole process with diligence. The experience is filled with happy and sad moments, still in the end — love for family and for their farm prevails.
6. WHAT HOME FEELS LIKE by Joseph Abello
Synopsis: “What Home Feels Like” tells the home life of father and seaman, Antonio, who is forced to spend most of time at home upon learning that he can never aboard a ship again. Facing struggles as he doesn’t know what to do next, he follows the footsteps of his parents and buys a farm using their family savings.
Dealing with his forced retirement gives him several realizations. Spending his last 33 years as a seaman caused him to not know his family on a personal level. What’s even worse is now that he has the chance to catch up, his kids are leaving and his wife is used to living without him.
TOFARM Film Festival is the brainchild of Dr. Milagros O. How, Executive Vice President of Universal Harvester, Inc. This festival aims to uplift the farmers as well as his professional development. It is most worthy and significant since this is the only film festival that showcases the lives, journeys, aspirations, trials and tribulations – failures and successes of the farmers and other stewards of agriculture.
The festival will give them the acknowledgement, honor and the respect due them as caretakers of our resources from the Great Creator.
The theme for the 2nd TOFARM Film Festival 2017 is“Planting the seeds of change.” Because of the advent of change and the fast development of modern technology as well as the changes in attitudes, cultures, mores and lifestyles, the farmer needs to open himself up to new visions and perspectives. He is encouraged to look for innovative approaches to farming and agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. These objectives should be incorporated in the film entries. A total of six (6) film scripts will be selected by the TOFARM Film Festival Screening Committee and will each be given grants for production.
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