Former ICOMM Chairperson Dr. Norberto D. Bana III and the production team behind the film "Nakauwi Na" receive the Best Student Short Film award in the 39th Catholic Mass Media Awards. Photo from the Catholic Mass Media Awards gallery.
Achieving communication excellence by producing values-oriented and industry-standard outputs, the Institute of Communication (ICOMM) once again bagged awards for the Colegio in the recently concluded 39th Catholic Mass Media Awards at the CCP Complex last October 25.
As early as 2002, ICOMM continues to give pride to the Colegio. Now on its 15th year of participating at the CMMA, the Institute's latest accolades were “Lumad” as the Best Student Public Service – Radio Ad, “Saan Ba Dapat?” as the Best Student Public Service –TV Ad, and “Nakauwi Na” as the Best Student Short Film.
After being hailed as CinemaKnights 2017 Best Film and later on selected as one of the 12 finalists to run for the Best Short Feature in this year's Cinemalaya, ‘Nakauwi Na’ found its way as the Best Student Short Film at the CMMA.
Angeli Rose Manabat, an AB Communication graduate who helped produced the said film, shared, “I guess our film (Nakauwi Na) was timely and reflected the current situation of our country. Making this film was really tough and challenging, we’re honored that prestigious award-giving bodies like CMMA recognized our work.”
“When we made this film, we just wanted to tell a story and use it as a platform to convey a message. Do it because you’re passionate about it. At the end of the day, it’s not the trophy that matters, but it’s how you affect and impart something to people,” Manabat ended.
As for Jaynus Olaivar, one of the directors, the award-winning short film is a tribute to all the victims of the controversial war on drugs campaign of the Duterte administration. “Inaalay namin ang award na ‘yun sa lahat ng biktima ng extrajudicial killings na hindi na nakamit ang nararapat na hustisya para sa kanila.”
Both of them were thankful and overwhelmed for winning in such prestigious awards; not to mention the huge amount of support that they received from the Letranites.
Meanwhile, ‘Camarero’, a story about the caretakers of statues of the saints, was also nominated for Best TV Production for the student Category, and although they didn’t get the award, they were still grateful for being acknowledged.
“Actually, all of us deserves to be nominated kasi dugo at pawis yung binigay ng bawat grupo when it comes to pre-production, production and post production” said Carl Matthew Lozano, a 4th-year communication student.
Olaivar and Lozano both pointed out that aspiring Letranites should put their hearts on their works and everything will eventually follow.
Last year, the Institute also won three awards with entries "Yapak" for Best Documentary, "Wow Genie" for Best Student PSA - Radio, and "Stop the Sale" for Best Student PSA - Print
The theme for this year’s CMMA, based on the Social Communication Day message of Pope Francis, is “Fear not, for I am with you (Isaiah 43:5): Communicating hope and trust in our time.”