24k Film In-The-Making

At last, I’m able to log into the admin page of this blog again, although I’m still unfortunately unable to post photos.

For a long time this site has just been giving me an error 404 message every time I tried to log in. So although I’d been itching to make some posts, I had been forbidden by the almighty computer somewhere out there. Anyway I’m here again, brimming with stories to tell.

I just came back last Friday from the land of aloha for the Hawaii IFF. It was an enjoyable and fruitful trip.

I met a lot of great people during the HIFF events — filmmakers, film enthusiasts, and people who make HIFF run (Andersen, Minette, Sarah, you guys are the coolest!).

A good crowd of different nationalities watched my film during the screenings. The reception of the film over there was rather different from how it was received in Manila. I won’t say that it was better, nor worse. It was simply interesting, and I certainly learned a lot from the experience.

Incidentally, because of its exposure in HIFF, 24k might have an extended life in those islands.

I was overwhelmed by the hospitality and the patriotism of the Filipinos in Hawaii. They were so supportive. They helped me with publicity, toured me around, and invited me to lunch or dinner. I ended up spending so little while I was there!

Although we didn’t get the top prize in the festival, the Filipino community was so proud of the fact that mine was one of the five films nominated for it. Many of them are actually egging me to make a film related to Filipinos there, and promised to help find funding for it.

Coming over to Hawaii to attend HIFF has well been worth it. And that’s without even mentioning my beautiful Sheraton Waikiki hotel, lounging on the famous Waikiki beach, and shopping in the sale season in some of the best boutiques in town.

Thank you to all the people in HIFF, to those who watched 24k, and all the wonderful film people, critics, and enthusiasts I met and chatted with.

I am especially grateful to all the Filipinos who were so accommodating, supportive, and helpful. As I told you, practice lang yon. I’ll be back.

Tags: filipinos in hawaii, hawaii international film festival, hiff

This entry was posted on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 9:33 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.