By Antonio Luis A. Carreon

Far Eastern University (FEU) students from BA Communication were awarded ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best in Film Editing’ in  Cinematulong 2021 last August 17, with their film "Onward."

In an interview with FEU Advocate, Karlo Magboo and Imran Aquino highlighted the film’s simplicity in delivering its message. 

“The story revolves around Chris and his live-in partner whom he accompanied on a date. Onward is about love, grief, acceptance, and moving forward,” writer and director Magboo stated. 

Aquino, as the editor and cinematographer, shared that the pre-production process was no easy feat for the entire team as they had to balance their academics and filmmaking which prompted them to carefully plan every meeting and individual task. 

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Magboo opened up on the struggles of making a film without physically meeting with the team. 

“We weren’t encouraged to shoot outdoors so we had to come up with a plan for the story to work without outdoor filming,” Magboo said. 

Later on, the team decided to proceed with filming along with a few production team members and actors instead.  

Further, Aquino shared that there were adjustments made to cater to the director’s vision during the post-production process. 

“I hope the film is simple, quiet, but at the same time, powerful enough to resonate its message to the audience,” Magboo said, talking about his visions for the film. 

Acknowledging the difficulty of working in the production, Aquino’s piece of advice is to believe that the team will be able to piece things together despite such struggles. 

“I hope we continue our desire to create and impart stories with relevant and liberating content,” Magboo said as a message to FEU student filmmakers. 

Cinematulong 2021 is an online event with a theme of “Puhon: Paghilom, Pagbangon, Pag-asa”; showcasing various films of different production teams for a charitable cause.

Mémoire Events, the organizer of the event stated that donations from the event will be used to buy laptops for students of Self and Reliance Development Konkokyo Center, INC.

(Photo courtesy of Karlo Magboo)