Santa Nena!, a short film by Digital Filmmaking alumnus Tim Rone Villanueva, has been selected by the juries of the Slemani International Film Festival in Iraq to participate in its third run from October 10 to 16, competing against 19 other short films from Afghanistan, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Estonia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Lebanon, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Spain, and Turkey.

Humble beginnings

With just less than two weeks to conceptualize for his thesis film back in 2016, Villanueva took inspiration from the religious themes and local folklore close to his heart.

“Gusto ko na ang last undergraduate film ko ay gift ko kay God as my thank you offering for all the blessings He gave me,” the filmmaker said in an interview with The Benildean.

Inspired by patron saint Maria Magdalena of Kawit Church (or more popularly known as Santa Nena), the Kawit native’s short film presents a comedic take on the romance between Santa Nena (Elora Españo), a patron saint who comes to life at night, and Manuel (Ross Pesigan), the boy on earth “with the golden balls,” after they are called by God to bear the second messiah.

Santa Nena!’s unique plot is consequent to Villanueva’s tireless efforts of writing, developing, and revising after an initial draft that mostly tackled morality, worship, and faith among Catholics. Through the guidance of his mentors, Mr. Jerry O’Hara and Mr. Seymour Sanchez, and his thesis proposal adviser, Mr. Joey Reyes, Villanueva chose a direction of Santa Nena! that would challenge the boundaries of relationships between humans and the religious, as well as the possibilities if their roles could be reversed.

“Many people ask me if I felt afraid about what will the audience’s reception be, especially if someone from the church watched it. I answered, slightly yes. I felt a little bit afraid about it, but I know God is with me before I started to write the film and after I distributed the film,” Villanueva said in a statement.

“He knows my purpose of making it. Therefore, why should I be afraid? With all His blessings, I created Santa Nena! with good heart and good intentions,” he added.

Road to Slemani

Now on its third run, the International Film Festival held in Slemani, Iraq welcomes outstanding actors and directors from all around the globe. With respective competitions and awards for International Cinema and National or Kurdish Cinema, over a hundred feature films and shorts from 126 different countries are screened every year at this event.

Highly encouraged by his mentor Mr. Sanchez to join film festivals, Villanueva told The Benildean that he joins as many festivals as he can. Despite almost missing the deadline of entries for this year’s Slemani International Film Festival, Villanueva fortunately was able to submit two of his short films, namely Santa Nena! and Paano Bihisan Ang Isang Ina?.

“I was surprised that Santa Nena! was selected. This is its first international selection ever since. More than one and half years ‘yung hinintay namin bago sya ma-select internationally,” Villanueva added.

Since its first release in December 2016 and later its commercial release in the CineFilipino Film Festival 2018, Santa Nena! has also received the following accolades:

• Best Narrative, Best Performance (Best Ensemble), and Best Production Design at the 2017 Sinepiyu Film Festival (Intercollegiate Category)
• Best Short Film, Best Narrative, Best Director, Best Actor (Ross Pesigan), and Best Scriptwriting at the Ateneo Video Open 2017
• Maningning Gold Picture Prize Winner, Outstanding Direction Award, Outstanding Performance By An Actress (Elora Españo), and Technical Excellence Award at the CineSB7 The Main Installment (Maningning Category)
• Honorable Mention at the 29th Gawad CCP Independent Film and Video Festival
• Realifilm Bronze Award Winner, Best Director, Best Actress (Elora Españo), Best Actor (Ross Pesigan), Best Cinematography, and Best PlayBill (Poster) at the Silip@Lente-AdU’s Realifilm 2017
• Best Director and Best Production Design at the Pelikultura: The Calabarzon Film Festival 2018
• Best Short Film at the CineFilipino Film Festival 2018 (Student Category)