Tag: Benilde

Benilde MMA Alumna Repeats as Best Director at Cinemalaya

Filmmaker and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Multimedia Arts alumna Gabriela “Gaby” Serrano got another Best Director award in the Short Film category of the 22nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, this time for her short film “Elenita Elena Elaine.”

Gabriela Serrano with her second Best Director trophy at Cinemalaya 22

The recognition highlights her distinct voice in contemporary Philippine cinema and underscores the growing impact of bold, genre-expanding storytelling.

“Elenita Elena Elaine” is a dystopian sci-fi drama set against a sleepless, dreamless Manila where dreaming itself is outsourced. Produced by Archipelago, Studio Dalaga, Key Pictures, Lunari Global, and Membrana Pictures, and supported by the 2025 Momo Film Co Distribution Grant, it explores mother-daughter dynamics, economic displacement, and personal sacrifice.

The narrative shifts across time to follow three interconnected Filipino women: a pop idol, a young graduate preparing to go abroad, and a call-center agent whose voice slowly fades under late-night shifts.

Gabriela Serrano at work with sister Mariana

Serrano drew directly from her own life for the project, reflecting on a period when she and her mother worked remote, outsourced jobs side by side in their living room. While her mother handled foreign call-center support, she served as a series editor on FX’s Spirit Award-nominated series “The Choe Show.”

We worked alongside each other from our living room in Manila, and though our new jobs sustained our household, the darker sides of globalization took root inside our home. Endless night shifts, underpaid labor, and cultural gaps started draining us both of time, sleep and hopes for brighter futures, the filmmaker shared.

Amidst this, we began to confide in one another dreams we had each put on the backburner: my aspirations to direct films someday, and her teenage wish to be a singer. Like millions in the Philippines, our true voices were rendered silent in order to survive our neocolonial economy, she added.

The shared strain of grueling hours and underpaid labor brought forward their suppressed ambitions, shaping the tender, speculative foundation of the film.

Gabriela Serrano directing Agot Isidro and sister Mariana

Serrano’s work routinely weaves folklore, surrealism, and local socio-economic realities. She previously won Best Director and the Special Jury Prize at Cinemalaya 18 for her split-screen folk-thriller “Dikit,” Best Short Film at QCinema’s QCShorts Lokal for the surreal short “Surface Tension” which she co-directed with her sister Mariana in 2025.

Serrano collaborated again with her sister, co-writer, and actor Mariana, together with executive producers Kim Jones, Gabie Tanjutco, and Mike Marks, producers Gale Osorio and Keith Deligero, cinematographer Kara Moreno, production designer Pauline Olarte, sound designers Dawr Toñacao and Deligero, musical scorer Andrea Ramos, and Mariana’s co-actors Agot Isidro and Gabby Padilla.

Gabriela and Mariana Serrano

Serrano is currently developing her feature-length sci-fi project “Please Bear With Me,” a companion piece to “Elenita Elena Elaine” which also expands on similar themes of call-center labor, and earned pitch recognitions at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN), Festival du nouveau cinéma (FNC) Montréal, and the Southeast Asian Film Lab.

Serrano’s latest win at Cinemalaya reinforces a rising path for Filipina filmmakers pushing genre boundaries, proving that personal truths can redefine the scope of local cinema.

September 16, 2026
Benilde Thesis Films Bring Laughs to Seattle’s Diwa at Pagdiriwang Festival

Benilde Shorts Take the Spotlight in Seattle

Two capstone film projects from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde recently brought laughter, heart, and proudly Filipino storytelling to Seattle, Washington through the Diwa at Pagdiriwang Festival.

Philip vs. The School

Screened last June 7 at the Seattle Center Armory Loft 2, the films were part of the festival’s “Sometimes You Just Gotta Laugh” block, a program that celebrated the lighter, messier, and more heartfelt side of independent cinema.

With teenage dreams on the line, both Benildean shorts offered a sharp and funny look at ambition, friendship, school pressure, and the wonderfully chaotic world of student filmmaking.

Student Elections Get Messy in “Philip vs. The School”

Produced under HIVE Films and directed by Terrence Santiago, the 20-minute thesis short “Philip vs. The School” turns the high-stakes drama of student council elections into a witty coming-of-age comedy.

The story follows Philip, an average student suddenly caught in a moral dilemma. Should he stay loyal to his best friend Lea, or reveal a scandalous secret that could ruin his rival Mark?

Funny, tense, and painfully familiar, the film captures how school politics can feel larger than life when friendships, reputations, and personal values collide.

Philip vs. The School

Santiago developed the film under the supervision of Benilde Film faculty member and industry veteran Wanggo Gallaga, whose mentorship helped shape the short’s mix of humor, heart, and youthful urgency.

“Guys! Action!” Finds Comedy in Student Filmmaking

Meanwhile, “Guys! Action!” directed by Jem Catabijan and produced by Kuhang Kuting Productions, turns the camera toward the hilarious struggles of young filmmakers.

The meta-comedy follows a desperate high school multimedia club racing against time to win Best Short Film at the Cinemalaya Film Festival. The stakes are intense: if they fail, the school administration will dissolve their beloved club for good.

Packed with panic, passion, and the kind of creative chaos every media student knows too well, the short film delivers a playful yet sincere tribute to young artists determined to keep their dreams alive.

Guys! Action!

Catabijan created the film under the guidance of Benilde Film educator and advocacy filmmaker Seymour Sanchez, who helped develop the project’s energetic and student-centered vision.

Growing Recognition for Benildean Filmmakers

The Seattle screening adds to the growing recognition of both thesis films.

Guys! Action!

“Philip vs. The School” has been officially selected for the Kuala Lumpur International Film Academy Awards in 2025, while “Guys! Action!” was previously selected for the San Diego Filipino Film Festival in 2024.

Together, the two works show how Benildean filmmakers continue to bring fresh, funny, and thoughtful stories to audiences beyond the Philippines.

Celebrating the Filipino Spirit Through Cinema

Presented in collaboration with the annual Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival, the Diwa Filipino Film Festival continues its mission to celebrate the diwa, or spirit, of the Filipino people through independent cinema.

Guys! Action!

Supported by 4Culture and powered by Shunpike, the community-centered festival showcased stories from the Philippine islands and the global Filipino diaspora.

The Benildean shorts were programmed alongside other regional works, including Banjo Hinolan’s “Manokan Country”and Mark Giddel Liwanag’s “Ambag” or “Impact.”

Philip vs. The School

Liwanag directed “Ambag” under the Alaminos City National High School Special Program in the Arts and later pursued college studies at the Benilde Film department, further strengthening the festival’s connection to emerging Filipino storytellers.

From high school elections to filmmaking dreams, Benilde’s thesis films proved that comedy can travel far, carrying with it a brilliant, joyful, and deeply human glimpse of Filipino youth culture.

July 3, 2026
Benilde student film wins in US filmfest, vies next at CCP’s Gawad Alternatibo

A thesis film about a boy who slugs it out in a neighborhood thumb wrestling tournament against another kid, whom he cannot defeat, will compete with other short film finalists at the Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video or Gawad Alternatibo. This after it bagged first place in the 2023 Student World Impact Film Festival.

‘Arena’ filmmaker Nicole Yvonne Lee with thesis mentor Seymour Sanchez

“Arena,” the 20-minute coming-of-age film stars Matthew Stanley, Shawn Niño Gabriel, and Miaka Mon, among an ensemble of other child actors.

SWIFF director Mark Leschinsky shared that the week-long New Jersey-based event, which got more than 13,000 submissions from 120 countries, “focuses on elevating the voices of young storytellers from historically marginalized races, backgrounds, and cultures to give them the opportunity to share their stories with the world.”

‘Arena’ actors

Before winning the SWIFF award, “Arena” became the first recipient of the Benilde Best Thesis Film trophy at the Cinematheque Centre Manila last April.

“As a filmmaker, I just really want to make people laugh and be happy using the films I made. Since I was a student, my school projects have been in the comedy genre. Arena was made from my playful imagination,” Lee, who wrote, edited, scored, directed, and co-produced the film, revealed.

‘Arena’ production team

Lee got the support of production manager Krissel Bernabe, director of photography Iezer Yap Magallon, production designer Grant Frondozo, assistant director Ivan Balmaceda, script continuity Giulia Saavedra, sound supervisor Paul Van Guzman, wardrobe master Clarisse Llaguno, colorist Tyrone James Luanzon, hair and makeup artist Rose Go, and production assistants Sheina Bensurto and Rodora Bagapuro.

“Arena” will try to continue its winning streak at Gawad Alternatibo, the longest-running independent film competition of its kind in Asia.

‘Arena’ filmmaker Nicole Yvonne Lee

Gawad Alternatibo, which was established in 1987, will feature some of the best works of Filipino alternative storytelling and filmmaking from August 5 to 7 at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (Cultural Center of the Philippines Blackbox Theatre).

July 31, 2023