"Blood Bank," "Love for Dogs" hailed .MOV's Best Shorts

Pam Miras' "Blood Bank" and Woo Ming Jin's "Love for Dogs" topped the Silvershorts competition for the best Philippine and Southeast Asian short film, respectively, at the 2nd .MOV International Digital Film Festival awards night held at SM City Cebu last March 7.

In "Blood Bank," three hapless characters and a blood bank provide the existential backdrop to this tale of mortality, friendship and choices they have to make. This is Miras' third short film after the 2000 Gawad Urian winner "Reyna ng Kadiliman" and the French Embassy-produced "Bongga: Best in Wedding Gown."

Miras, who also won the 13th Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video short film feature category for "Reyna," bested nine other finalists, namely Dino Ignacio's "Maritess vs. the Superfriends," Gabriela Krista Lluch Dalena's "Red Saga," Kristoffer Villarino's "Binaliw," John Torres'"Tawid Gutom," Michael Rivero's "Fiesta 2052," Ramon del Prado's "Egg," Melvin Calingo's "Blind Beauty," and Sherad Anthony Sanchez's "Apple" and "Iyak ni Maria."

"The idea of the film using the vampire thing is very well done. It is meaningful and the tension between the people is played very well. You don't need to be a Filipino to appreciate this film," explained Clermont-Ferrand festival programmer Roger Gonin, who served as chair of the jury for the selection of the best short film (Philippines/SEA) and world documentary.

Meanwhile, Woo, a graduate in Film and Video Production at San Diego University, won over fellow Malaysian filmmakers James Lee ("Goodbye to Love"), Diffan Sina ("Woman of the Cosmos"), Amir Muhammad ("Lost"), Chi Too ("Out of the Closet"), and Sherman Ong ("Exodus") as well as Singaporean directors Royston Tan ("Cut"), B.Thiam Tan ("Shelter: The City of Forgetting"), and Aaron Chung ("Crook"), Indonesian filmmaker Hanung
Roby Cesa ("When…"), and Thai director Tasaporn Mongkol ("Bus Stop").

Woo, who served as director of photography for the acclaimed Malaysian feature "The Big Durian," has made several award-winning short films and music videos. He won the Gold Award for the Best Short Film in the Malaysian Video Awards 2002 for "Mina in Perfection."

"Love for Dogs" tells two parallel tales: one about a man who revisits his past and the other about a girl trying to reconcile with her unfulfilled life. The man arrives as a traveling salesman of fake medicine while the girl pretends to be a deaf-mute. Their encounter seems inevitable.

Gonin praised the film for its social and political insights. "Every character in the film is complex and everyone is a victim. It has a universal message and it is very powerful and clever," he added.