INSPIRED by the excellent output of students during the pandemic, iACADEMY’s School of Design and The Arts launched the second edition of the Ground Glass Film Festival.

The film festival celebrates the students’ creativity and gives them something to experience in the confines of their homes.

“It’s inspiring to see how clever and resourceful these young filmmakers have been despite the limitations in filming,” said Festival Director Keith Sicat.

“As a practitioner, it puts wind in your sails to witness the next generation of filmmakers show their grit and determination in continuing to create. The name of the festival is based on the element in a camera called the ‘ground glass’ that aids in focus. The name is meant to provide historical context for the young filmmakers. The students are part of this artistic continuum of capturing images,” he explained.

The jury for the first edition was comprised of award-winning filmmakers. This year’s jury is made up of acclaimed directors Rae Red, Ice Idanan, and Dodo Dayao.

“The age gap between students and these award-winning filmmakers isn’t so vast,” said Sicat. “That should inspire the kids even more — their dreams are closer than they imagine!”

Red began as a screenwriter (she co-wrote Birdshot which was the Philippines’ official entry to the Academy Awards in 2018) and whose first solo outing as writer/director “Babae at Baril” swept the awards season last year. Idanan got her break as a cinematographer before winning numerous accolades with “Sakaling Hindi Makarating” starring Alessandra de Rossi. Dayao’s early forays were in the form of film criticism before making his moody genre pieces such as the award-winning “Violator” and recent Martial Law allegory “Midnight in a Perfect World” that stars Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Glaiza de Castro.