BAKUNAWA FEST X
FILM + ART + MUSIC I 9TH EDITION I SEASON 2022-2023 I THE PHILIPPINES
Bakunawa Fest 9 Board of Jury
It is our honor to present the Bakunawa Fest 9 Board of Jury [season 2022-2023].
TITO GENOVA VALIENTE, Chair
Tito Genova Valiente is a film critic, film educator, public anthropologist and author from Bicol, Philippines. As a film critic, he is a member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Critics of the Philippine Cinema), the oldest critics group in the Philippines handing out the prestigious Gawad Urian (Urian Awards). As an anthropologist, Valiente has done research on Philippine folktales and myths, social and cultural changes in selected villages in the Philippines, and migration.
He spent years in Japan as a graduate student and research fellow, studying Japanese farmhouses and Filipino migration to Japan at Rikkyo University in Tokyo. He taught in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and, later, in the Japanese Studies Program of the Ateneo de Manila, teaching Japanese Cinema among others. In 2019, he became the first ever Filipino benshi – a silent film narrator - to narrate Yasujiro Ozu’s silent film comedy ‘A Straightforward Boy!’ (突貫小僧 | Tokkan Kozo, 1929) presented by the Japan Foundation Manila.
Valiente has co-edited books on transnationalization and war memories and authored “The Last Sacristan Mayor and the Most Expensive Mass for the Dead: Tales from Ticao,” through the Ateneo de Naga University Press. He is part of the art circle generated by the Savage Mind, a cultural hub and bookstore in Naga City.
He was the recipient of the Natatanging Gawad Sining Balagtas for 2015 for Lifetime Achievement in English Essay from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) or Union of Writers of the Philippines. Also a columnist for Business Mirror, a Philippine national broadsheet, he maintains two columns: “Reeling” on art and media and “Annotations” on societies and cultures. He also wrote for Bicol Mail, a regional paper, writing about regional cultures. In 2019, he was one of the honorees in celebration of 100 years of Philippine Cinema for his contribution and advocacies on Philippine regional cinema. Currently, he serves as an Executive Member of the National Committee on Cinema of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
MYISH ENDONILA
Myish Endonila is a filmmaker, design activist and graphic designer from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. Her documentary ‘Bukang Liwayway’ (Dawn, 2020) was one of the selected projects of IF/Then Southeast Asia 2020 together with films that explored a range of socially, politically and culturally relevant topics through the lens of emerging storytellers from Southeast Asia. She was one of those mentored by Tribeca Film Institute which was made possible by In.Docs, MacArthur Foundation and Aljazeera Documentary Filmmakers - orgnanized by Docs by the Sea, an international documentary lab and forum for creative documentary projects from Indonesia, Southeast Asia and Asian regions.
She has designed local and international film posters for various film companies and film studios. Founder and Managing Director of Design Brewer which started in 2011, she is also currently Branding Consultant of the MSH Inc. and works for corporate branding projects and initiatives in Mindanao particularly in Basilan.
Myish’s films “Lola” and “Unod Bukog” have been screened at the Bakunawa Fest (formerly Bakunawa Young Cinema). She has been one of the pioneering mentors for Bakunawa Fest since its inception, acting as panel for the Bakunawa Film Camps where young first-time filmmakers are given film training that culminates to film production wherein their films competes for one of the top prizes of Bakunawa Fest.
KYLE FERMINDOZA
Kyle Fermindoza is an awardwinning filmmaker, actor, cinematographer, visual artist and tattoo artist from Iloilo, Philippines. He is a graduate of Fine Arts and has participated in art exhibitions and tattoo competitions. As a filmmaker, he has directed the films ‘Manggagarab’ (Man with the Sickles, 2017), ‘Diin si Tomas?” (Where is Tomas?, 2016) and ‘Ang Babayi sa Bahura’ (The Woman on the Reef, 2018) – all three winning him back to back Best Short Film, Best Director and Best Actor respectively at the CineKasimanwa: Western Visayas Film Festival for three consecutive years. He has represented Western Visayas and Iloilo four times at the annual Cinema Rehiyon - a national film festival gathering the best films and filmmakers from the Philippine regions.
His film K[U]ADRADO / [FRAME/D] (2021) was one of the films of Eksena Cinema Quarantine: Covid-19 Filmmakers’ Diaries funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Committee on Cinema) and was nominated for Best Short Film at the Gawad Urian given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Critics of the Philippine Cinema). His film ‘Manggagarab’ was also a nominee at the Gawad Urian for Best Short Film and his film ‘Ang Babayi sa Bahura’ won Gawad Alternatibo’s Best Film from the Regions given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Kyle is one of the top actors of Western Visayan Cinema and has acted for directors like Aimee Apostol Escasa (Asin, 2012 and Katapusan nga Handum, 2015), Tara Illenberger (High Tide, 2017), TM Malones (Kargo, 2022), Elvert Bañares (Ang May Akda: Ikatlong Yugto, 2021) and Roman Perez Jr (Pamasahe, 2022) for VivaMax. He is also acting coach and Assistant Director for the Indigenous Panay Bukidnon film ‘Sa Paglupad Ka Banog’ (2022). Last year, he was one of the filmmaker-scholars sent by the Film Development Council of the Philippines for Platform Busan of the Busan International Film Festival (부산국제영화제) in Haeundae-gu, Busan, Republic of Korea.