Young Bicolano film maker makes it to QC International Film Festival

A young Bicolano film maker, Jordan Jose C. Dela Cruz, made it to the prestigious list of its Circle Competition Film Maker Grants of the Quezon City International Film Festival happening in October this year. The young turk is the only first time feature film maker among the six 2018 grantees. The Quezon City International Film Festival has been one of the most important celebrations of contemporary cinema in the Philippines. Over recent years, QCinema has been playing an active role in developing Filipino Cinema, most notably through its Circle Competition film maker grants. This year, it looks like competition could be tighter, with only six Circle Competition grantees. In recent years, some of the most acclaimed independently produced Filipino films premiered and competed at the QCinema International Film Festival. Sixth iteration of the QCinema International Film Festival, ‘’International’ , because the festival is slated to screen some incredible films from abroad, and because it claims—rightly so—to be the launchpad of local films that are internationally recognized. ABOUT THE FILM MAKER: JORDAN DELA CRUZ Director / Writer Jordan Dela Cruz is a film maker from the Bicol Region. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Ateneo De Naga University, he studied Motion Picture Production under the mentorship of numerous veterans of the Philippines Film Making Industry at the Asia Pacific Film Institute. There, his experimental thesis film Bardo (2013) won the distinction for Best Cinematography. In 2014, he directed the narrative short film ‘’Nawawara’’ (Lost) which won best picture in the 2nd Peñafrancia Film Festival – a regional film festival organized by The Archdiocese of Caceres. The film was shot in Naga City. In 2016, he directed the experimental Short Film ‘’The Dream that Nida Chua Dreamed on the Morning of May 25, 1985’’. His film premiered at the Short Film Corner at the 69th Cannes Film Festival, sscreened in competition at the 10th Athens International Short Film Festival in Greece, won the grand prix in the 10th International Low & No Budget Short Film Festival Clip Award in Germany, and participated in over a dozen other International Film Festivals around the globe. As a child, Jordan was separated for decades from his family by the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) phenomenon. He now works as an OFW in Qatar in an attempt to reconnect with his roots and to secure funding for his personal projects. Jordan’s films deal with the themes of loss, inevitability, and the tragedy of the Filipino diaspora. ‘’Panata sa Bundok Gulsuk’’ is his first film. ABOUT THE FILM: Panata sa Bundok Gulsuk (Bicol Title: Panuga sa Bukid Gulsuk ) Is a dark coming –of-age story set in the idyllic city of Naga in the Bicol Region. When the life of his pregnant High School girlfriend is threatened by a mysterious disease, a naïve teenage boy journey’s towards the peak of a mythical, eldritch mountain to search for a cure. What begins as a lighthearted tale of young love swiftly veers into the territory of walking nightmares as the teenage father-to-be falls down the fissures of the surreal.