cinemanila international film festival essay and scriptwriting contests

Quick! While there's still time! Go and join the essay writing and scriptwriting competitions of the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival! Rules and forms below.

Download the essay entry form and the scriptwriting entry form here.

The 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival runs from August 8-19 at the Gateway Mall Cineplex 10.

Rules for FDCP / 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Essay Writing Contest

1) The Essay Writing Contest is open from 8 August 2007 to 15 August 2007. The contest is open to all high school and college students who are Filipino citizens. Current members of the Cinemanila Secretariat and employees of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) are not eligible for entry.

2) Entrants may submit only one (1) entry for the contest.

3) Entries may be in English or Tagalog, but entries in the latter must be accompanied by an English translation.

4) Entries which have been awarded a prize in another contest before 12:00 m.n. of 15 August 2007 are not qualified for the awards.

5) The work submitted must be the entrant’s own and to which he or she has absolute ownership of all intellectual property rights thereto.

6) The entry must be on any of the following topics:
a) The Festival theme: Global Pinoy Cinema: Kwentong Pilipino Para Sa Mundo;
b) 9 Best Filipino Films (Digital and 35 mm) Program (1999-2007) of the Festival;
c) Best ASEAN film of the Festival;
d) Best International Film of the Festival;
e) Best Digital Lokal film of the Festival; or
f) The SEAWAVE Project.

7) The entry must be of no less than 500 and no more than 1,000 words in length.

8) Entrants must submit one (1) hard copy of his or her entry. Entries must be typewritten or computerized and must follow this format:
a) 8.5” x 11” paper;
b) One-inch margin on all sides;
c) Double-spaced throughout; and
d) Font Arial or Times New Roman size 12.
Entrants must also submit a soft copy of their work in MS Word document (.doc), Rich Text File (.rtf), or PDF format in a CD or diskette. The entrant’s real name and address must not appear on any of the pages of the entry. When asked for a name in the Entry Form or elsewhere, the entrant must indicate a pseudonym.

9) Entrants must submit all hard and soft copies of their entry along with the official Entry Form and their resume flat in a 9” x 12” envelope addressed to the Cinemanila Secretariat Rm. 5C2, NCCA Bldg., 633 General Luna St., Intramuros, Manila. The deadline for all entries is 12:00 n of 15 August 2007.

10) The winners of the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Essay Writing Contest will be announced and awarded during the Festival’s Awarding Ceremonies on 15 August 2007. The prizes are: 1st – PhP25,000.00; 2nd – PhP15,000.00; and 3rd – PhP10,000.00.

11) The 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Essay Writing Contest and the awards are made possible by the joint efforts of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and the Cinemanila International Film Festival.


Rules for FDCP / 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Scriptwriting Contest

1) The Scriptwriting Contest is open from 28 June 2007 to 12 August 2007. The deadline will coincide with the first day of the Master Class in Scriptwriting workshop. The contest is open to all current and former Filipino citizens of all ages. Current members of the Cinemanila Secretariat and employees of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) are not eligible for entry.

2) Entrants may submit only one (1) entry for the contest.

3) Entries may be in English or Tagalog, but entries in the latter must be accompanied by an English translation.

4) Only works that have not undergone production may be entered. Entries which have been awarded a prize in another contest before 12:00 m.n. of 12 August 2007 are not qualified for the awards.

5) The work submitted must be the entrant’s own and to which he or she has absolute ownership of all intellectual property rights thereto.

6) The entry must consist of material good for 90 to 120 minutes of film (average 95 to 125 pages).

7) Adaptations of existing material (e.g., books by other authors) are eligible. In this case, the entrant must submit along with his or her entry the written consent of the author of the existing work to have his or her work be adapted for contest entry. The consent must be notarized and should include a clear and categorical statement that Cinemanila and its partners shall be exempt from liability in the event that the adaptation is found to infringe on the intellectual property rights of the author.

8) Entrants will retain ownership rights to their submitted scripts, under the condition that Cinemanila and the FDCP be duly acknowledged in the event of the script resulting in a production. The FDCP and Cinemanila reserve the right to assist the entrant in this regard.

9) Entrants must submit three (3) copies of his or her entry, each fastened with brads. Entries must be typewritten or computerized and must follow this format:
a) 8.5” x 11” white 3-hole punched paper;
b) One-inch margin on all sides, except left (between 1.2” and 1.6”);
c) Courier size 12 (no bold or italics); and
d) Paged in the upper right hand corner (except first page).
Entrants must also submit a soft copy of their work in MS Word document (.doc), Rich Text File (.rtf), or PDF format in a CD or diskette. The entrant’s real name and address must not appear on any of the pages of the entry. When asked for a name in the Entry Form or elsewhere, the entrant must indicate a pseudonym.

10) Entrants must submit all hard and soft copies of their entry along with the official Entry Form and their resume flat in a 9” x 12” envelope addressed to the Cinemanila Secretariat at Rm. 5C2, NCCA Bldg., 633 General Luna St., Intramuros, Manila. The deadline for all entries is 12:00 n of 12 August 2007.

11) The winners of the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Scriptwriting Contest will be announced and awarded during the Closing Night ceremonies of the Festival. The prizes are: 1st – PhP200,000.00; and 2nd – two winners of PhP100,000.00 each.

12) The 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival Scriptwriting Contest and the awards are made possible by the joint efforts of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and the Cinemanila International Film Festival.

the road to publication & up gawad centennial

I just received the second proofs of my short fiction collection from my publisher, with all the initial comments and corrections from Nikki and myself already imbedded. They've also sequenced the additional pages I requested, such as the dedication page, and used the updated author bionote I sent them.

So all that remains is for me to plunge one last time into the text, rereading my stories for the odd font changes or missing periods and such, before signing off.

Since my design company is providing the cover, I'm still waiting for the required elements that will appear on the front and back (the back is also part of the cover): Anvil's logo, the ISBN, space for the bar code, blurb/s, etc. I'm really hopeful that the publisher's budget permits a little extra for the cover, particularly some kind of lamination for the title (spot or sand lamination) or embossing. I think we have a great-looking cover, but every little thing helps to drive the aesthetic home.

I think part of me has been using this book as a reason not to write as much as I used to. It's as if I'm telling myself to get this done first before I can turn towards new fiction. It's not a very good reason, but I suspect it's the truth.

My inventory (unsold/unpublished stories) count is a dismal "1". I simply have to write more. Soon, I hope to add to the count with the story I'll develop for Jing Hidalgo's anthology of tales, a couple of stories for Perfect World, something for the erotica anthology Nikki's looking at editing, a Young Adult piece for Story Philippines, and - because like Olympic years, the novel category of the Palancas is upon us again next year - a novel (I'm thinking if I plan to write one anyway, might as well make it eligible for competition). Honestly though, with the stultifying heat right now, I cannot imagine how I will do everything.

Speaking of contests, there's a big one next year: the UP Centennial Gawad Likhaan (complete details here). Six awards—each one worth P200,000—will be offered for original, book-length works in the following categories: a novel or short story collection in English in English; a novel or short story collection in Filipino; a poetry collection in English; a poetry collection in Filipino; a full-length work or collection of creative nonfiction in English; and a full-length work or collection of sanaysay in Filipino. Deadline for submission is March 31, 2008 at 5 pm. The names of the winners and the members of the Board of Judges will be announced in June 2008.

Only original works (unpublished in print or online - which means no NaNoWriMo for me anymore, in case I get disqualifed) that have not a won prize anywhere are valid. Which really makes it a tall order as neither Salamanca nor my upcoming collection are valid. Interestingly, since I write neither poetry nor creative nonfiction in either English or Filipino, and writing a novel in Filipino is beyond my small skills, I can only compete in one category: novel or short story collection in English. Let's see, shall it be a new novel (gah) or about 50,000 words worth of new short fiction (gah again - and inventory envy bites me hard). These are two completely different things and one is no easier than the other. I just wonder how the judges will pit someone's novel against someone's short fiction collection.

We'll see how things go, if time can be made. After all, there is still Philippine Speculative Fiction Vol.3 to put together.