Filipino short ‘Panangarem’ wins Cannes WiP audience vote, grant support

“Panangarem” earns a Cannes grant, moves post-production forward.

“We broke a leg and brought home the bacon,” 

Thus said director Kyla Danelle Romero after her film “Panangarem” (Courting) was “voted by the audience” following its presentation at the Focus WiP (Work-in-Progress) program of Cinéma de Demain, part of the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France.

The recognition earns Romero’s project a €5,000 grant to support the final stages of post-production for the short film.

According to the official Cinéma de Demain website, Focus WiP showcases projects in (post-)production to generate interest among key industry players such as festival programmers, distributors, producers, and buyers. 

It added that, with support from TransPerfect, an official partner of the Cannes Film Festival, the project was selected through a public vote following its presentation.

In “Panangarem,” a cemetery demolition on New Year’s Eve awakens the ghost of a man who longs to see his living wife and daughter, hoping to finally lay his bones to rest.

The Ilocano short film, shot in Agoo, La Union, is Romero’s tribute to her father, Danny, who passed away 12 years ago but had always wished to return home to Agoo. “It is also a love letter to Agoo itself,” she added.

“Last year, during Focus CoPro, my full-length film in development [‘Giliw’] won a residency at the University of Film and Television Munich (HFF Munich). This is where Robin Swicord became my mentor. So, medyo naging home ko na ang Cinéma de Demain,” Romero said in this Radar Entertainment exclusive.

Swicord is an American writer-director best known for adapting major literary works into films such as “Little Women,” “Matilda,” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

 

 

The recognition earns Romero’s project a €5,000 grant to support the final stages of post-production for the short film.

 

 

READ: