TOFARM Film Festival Awards Night (Part 1)

You've all seen it, you've heard it and now comes the grueling task of picking who did great at the TOFARM Film Festival on it's second year. The entries last year were all good. VP of Universal Harvest Incorporated Dr. Milagros O. How puts it "It has been a good first year and the entries we had last year has not just made us happy, it has exceeded our expectations and even won awards locally and internationally. It has put the farmer's plight in the forefront and given it the attention that it deserves." and true enough, it has already churned several accolades and nominations from different award giving bodies including the top award in the Shanghai International Film Festival via Paulo Villaluna's "Pauwi Na" (Pedicab) plus the Golden Goblet trophy from the jurors which made the TOFARM Film Festival executives ecstatic to make this second year even bigger.

Making this whole thing happen must not have been easy as the jurors have to choose only a few movies among the 140++ scripts that have been screened this year. During this evening, it was time to choose among the actors, the people behind it, the entries of who fared well as the judges and the viewing public had a hand at it too.

The Festival Director and Film Maker Maryo J. Delos Reyes took the stage and thanked everyone who came, then introduced the films that made it to this year's entries. He also acknowledged the 6 film directors who did an excellent job at making these movies for the duration of the festival.

Hosting the show was lovely Carla Abellana and Tom Rodriguez. Tom was extra sweet, he mentioned something about being together on stage, it may or may not be part of the script. They look so natural up there.

Christopher De Leon announced the nominees for the Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress Category.

When they announced the winner, it went to Francis Magundayao for Instalado. It's his first award ever.

I was rooting for Sunshine to win the Best Supporting Actress category but the one who won it was Barbara Miguel for Instalado. She won in the Harlem International Film Festival in 2013, so this wasn't surprising.

To give the awards for Best Music and Best Sound.

My apologies because I didn't get to take a photo of the winner for Best Music which went to Hiroko Nagai and Harold Andre Cruz Santos for What Home Feels Like. Best Sound award went to Wild Sound for the movie Instalado.

I haven't seen Bayang Barrios for a while, the last time I think was during the launch of the 1898 album... that was ages ago. She is also part of the movie "Kamunggay" which I plan to watch later since it's the last day.

To announce the winners for several production awards, they called in Joel Torre and Anna Capri plus a guy who's name I didn't take note of, my apologies.

The Best Production Design award went to Mark Sabas of Instalado. I guess it's because they got to execute a sci fi movie on a limited budget, imagine how hard that would have been no?

Then they gave the Best Editing award to the team of Michael Bayani Canino and Director Tara Illenberger of High Tide. I guess those shots in the remote island and how they tied it up has got a lot to do with it.

For the Best Cinematography, it was bagged by TM Malones for the movie High Tide. The treatment for various weather conditions was superb in this movie. They chose the right winner.

To announce the rest of the winners for the other production awards, out came the immortal Gabby Concepcion together with Director Maryo J. Delos Reyes.

Best Story went to Joseph Abello for What Home Feels Like. I was told the story was actually about a real father of one of the Producers, which they chose to NOT to watch the film since this would make things awkward haha!

This was the time where I saw how they were picking up the awards like hotcakes. The Best Screenplay went to again, Joseph Abello for What Home Feels Like.

The People's Choice Award went to INSTALADO and the Director attributed it to the tons of people who watched the film, plus of course he took time to say thanks to the fans of McCoy who voted for them.

Congratulations to the winners of the recent TOFARM Film Festival. I'll publish the second part of the awards in a bit including the recognition they bestowed upon the judges and directors of the 6 films. So if you haven't watched the entries yet, make sure you do today because it's the last day of screening. You can go to Greenbelt, Gateway Mall, SM Megamall, Cinematheque via FDCP and UP Cinema. You may check the schedules here.

MOSSIMO x War For The Planet Of The Apes

I've had so much fun watching the latest installment of the ape series (as I called it) especially this one called "WAR For The PLANET Of The APES". This movie spawned from a scientific experiment gone wrong and how future civilizations are up in arms in how smart these apes had become that they felt the need to kill them. It's up to Caesar to peacefully live or fight with these humans, and what he may end up doing if they don't. The whole movie must have been mostly subtitled because of non speaking monkeys and apes, but you will love it and would definitely feel for them in the duration of the entire movie. Thanks to Mossimo for keeping us really warm with these neat hoodies/sweaters that they came out with in conjuction with this film.

This is a capsule collection and will only be available for a limited time. This wojld be good for fans of the movie, or the series and for those finding collectibles of the film. They did this to celebrate their partnership with FOX International who's also showing the previous movies in their cable channels. According to Mossimo's VP for Products Alex Bautista "This is one of our many plans of working with big brands in the market. This is an accord of sorts that goes well with our Fall 2017 collection because we know how much the Ape franchise has a cult following."

The shirts, the hoodie jacket/long sleeved shirts are staples during this season and they've come out with white and gray versions of the clothes which you can wear anywhere as it is basic. You should also watch out for their next ones for this Fall 2017 collection which will include the "Jungle Book" and "Re-Volution" line complete with safari and camou prints which their patrons would surely love. The capsule collection is already available in several Mossimo stores across the country and if you want to know more, like them on Facebook at Wear Mossimo and their IG account @wearmossimo too.

I had so much fun seeing this film, wearing those comfy hoodies too! Thank you Mossimo for the treat! 

KUMAGCOW

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McJim Goes Global: The Montreal Shoot

I couldn't believe my eyes seeing Filipino leather brand McJim being immortalized in shots made and done in Montreal, Canada. It's the largest municipality in Quebec Province which is home to a mix of communities of French Canadians, Brits, Asians and natives. The achitecture is a mix of gothic, bohemian, modern, industrial and even pop. They have 4 seasons and gets to extremes during summer and winter. They also got it's name from Mount Royal which sits nearby. It's population is around 6 Million and was the center of commerce up until the 70's wherein Toronto had surpassed them. Their style is primarily urban, yet very classic, very stylish and is dictated mostly by the climate, but they never forget to be fashionable all year round and this is where McJim comes in the picture. 

These were done by Models LCP, a North American based male modeling agency. With a location like the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, it just looked so good on photos.

McJim specializes in quality classic leather, as it now stands, their wallets just looked phenomenal on these guys even if they are caucasians. Proving to most that classics can never go wrong no matter what place in the world you may be.

I owned one of these man bags and with a good suit, you'll be definitely turning heads in formal or office locations. 

Messenger bags on a light day if you want to carry around a laptop and a few files. You can work in style and go out on a date in the evenings, it looks good on you any time of the day.

I prefer long wallets like these especially because I have a lot of cards to keep. Now you can have them in one place with your money neatly placed inside. You don't have to be too rough around the edges.

A staple for every man, a good belt. Don't pull those pants each time you walk and just make your look extra snappy. It's going to make your assets stand out too at the back, ladies love that.

For business, casual, work and play, McJim can always fit your wardrobe. Make these leather items an essential part of your everyday wear and you won't get wrong. Thanks to photographer Nick Merzetti who shoots Toronto Fashion Week for immortalizing these photos. It looks so genuinely stylish and classy. Congratulations McJim!

KUMAGCOW

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Another TOFARM Entry To Watch: High Tide

This is a Tara Illenberger masterpiece that should never be missed during the TOFARM Film Festival 2017. I'm an Ilonggo from Bago City so saying this movie hits home is just as good as my existence. The dialect itself has been hailed as one of the sweetest things to hear and listening to it be uttered by the actors and actresses in this film made me so proud that even though it's subtitled, everyone seems to have been able to connect with it. 

Two quite interesting characters are above, which I would want the first one (Sunshine Teodoro) to at least bag a Best Supporting Actress award on Sunday. That's beside Arthur Solinap who's usually seen on GMA shows who did quite a good job in the Dad role. I do have several cousins who look like him so don't be to awkward seeing how meztizo he is in this film. The plight of fish farmers, on how they go through tough times like rough seas and having to survive a measely salary living day to day in a very small town. He also will let you know how even a small thing like the tide's rise could affect the lives of fishermen, their families and how much time they have spent out in the seas so they could put food on the table.

It's a nice tell all of folks who depend on fish farms, and how no matter what the season is, they still have to fix their pens and move earth, mountains to get their produce sold to the market, and earn a little even if they've worked so hard the whole day already.

TOFARM Film Festival will run only until July 18 so make sure you don't moss to watch High Tide as it's one of the nicest films I've watched in quite a while. 

KUMAGCOW

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