THE COMMISSION on Higher Education, Unified Student Financial Assistance System for Tertiary Education, and Film Development Council of the Philippines launched two film projects for students to participate in film labs and vlog webinars.

The venture was made in a bid to further hone and develop students’ skills in film production.

During a virtual press launch, the short film lab project dubbed ‘CineIskool Short Film Lab and Festival’ and the #MyKwentongUniFAST webinar series were presented to members of the media led by CHED and UniFAST Board Chairman Prospero De Vera III and FDCP Chairperson Mary Liza Diño.

The CineIskool Short Film Lab and Festival is open to student-beneficiaries of the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931.

Ten projects will be chosen from the submitted entries coming from student-beneficiaries and will be given a grant of P125,000 each to produce a five-minute short film showcasing stories on the importance and benefits of free tertiary education.

A film festival will also be held to officially recognize the best short films from the 10 film grants.

The #MyKwentongUniFAST project will highlight the sharing of experiences and stories of RA 10931 beneficiaries through a series of webinars that would teach them how to create and edit digital content, including workshops on media creation like vlogging.

Digital content experts and well-known vloggers are to be tapped to give lectures on selected participants nationwide.

“With our partnership today with FDCP and with the launching of these two projects, we will provide a formal platform so that our beneficiaries can be trained by experts and well-known professionals in the industry to produce either a short film or vlogs. They can manifest their success stories how these government programs of free education changed their lives and their community,” De Vera said.

Initial talks on the projects started in 2019 but plans were halted when the Covid19 pandemic hit the country and restrictions were imposed on holding face-to-face film labs and workshops.

UniFAST OIC Executive Director Ryan Estevez said aside from promoting the programs of RA 10931 to the public, this is also an opportunity to hone the skills and talents of new and budding filmmakers in the country.

“As we take advantage of the various online formats and platforms that the youth can use to tell their stories, we hope that My Kwentong Unifast and CineIskool will help us discover a new generation of filmmakers with the talent and voices that we can mold and empower. We thank CHED and Unifast for this partnership and look forward to giving our young filmmakers the tools and training sessions that can help them produce their tales and experiences of free higher education,” Diño said.

FDCP is the national film agency responsible for film policies and programs to ensure the economic, cultural, and educational development of the Philippine film industry.

The agency also leads the film industry’s participation in domestic and foreign film markets, and local and international film festivals, and is tasked to preserve and protect films as part of the country’s national cultural heritage.