Taking animation to heart: Naga student tops Animehanasyon festival

Hit with a rubber slipper, fed with lit firecrackers and pinned behind door hinges—such is the life of a lizard chronicled in Sanayan Lang ang Pagpatay, a short animated feature by 20-year old Gil Joseph Sanchez. Based on a poem by Fr. Albert Alejo, the adaptation won the Grand Prize at the Animahenasyon 2011 festival, besting 33 other finalists from Filipino animators at home and abroad.

A graduating student from Ateneo de Naga University (ADNU), Joseph is the first regional winner to bag the coveted top award in the prestigious nationwide animation festival. Recently, Sanayan Lang ang Pagpatay was also nominated at the Metro Manila Film Festival in the New Wave Independent section, Student Short category, along with 10 other entries from all around the country.

“It is a very big honor to be Animahenasyon’s first grand prize winner outside Metro Manila. With this award, I hope we are able to show that Manila is not the only center of animation in the country. We also have a lot of very talented, world-class animators in the provinces who deserve recognition,” Sanchez said.

ADNU has always joined in the annual animation festival, and its students always win a couple of awards every year in some of the categories in the student division, but have never taken home the grand prize award. Fr. Danilo Isidro, chair of the Department of Digital Arts and Computer Animation in ADNU was indeed very happy to go back home to Naga with Sanchez carrying his trophies and giant check that says P100,000.

“We always tell our students that it’s the story or concept that matters more,” Fr. Isidro stressed, “and once you get this right, everything else in the animation part will follow and make the whole animated feature stand out.”

Beset with a theme on apathy, Sanayan Lang ang Pagpatay is a metaphorical look into the different ways of killing an unsuspecting lizard, likening it to how easy it has become for people to kill one another and how indifferent viewers have become to crime, death and the plight of victims.

The candid voice of the narrator and the comical animation provided a stark irony to the lines of the poem. “The short film showed how we, as audiences, have become apathetically accustomed to crime, that we merely see these atrocities as entertainment or something to talk about but without doing anything,” Sanchez explained.

With a deep-seated passion to show reality through the lens of animation, Sanchez is driven to make films that go beyond entertainment. He aims to create works of art that push his audience to think and participate.

“An animator is a creator. By being an animator, I give life to characters and stories. Stories that entertain, make for a good laugh or two but still lull the viewer back into the real issues, then hopefully turning that awareness to action,” Sanchez enthused.

As a child, Joseph was fond of Cartoon Network shows and Japanese anime, often wondering how they were made.  In high school, he thought that animation was something that Filipinos could not do because of the advanced technology required for the craft. Eventually he found that most 3D animation around the world were being outsourced to the Philippines.

That was what pushed him to major in Digital Illustration and Animation in ADNU. Drawing inspiration from Pixar, Joseph dreams of working for a 3D animation studio and doing his part to promote the craft, both to his compatriots and the world.

“Animation is an art. And as with any other form of self-expression, passion is what drives this art. Your passion will take away your fatigue. It will give you strength, inspiration. My passion for animation is what keeps me going, what keeps me growing both as a person and an artist,” Sanchez emphasized.

Other winners in the festival for the professional division include Hytek by Rodolfo N. Tinapay for Category A (1-5 minutes), Pasintabi by Jeff Capili for Category C (21-40 minutes), and the demo reel of Roy Dadivasfor Category F (TVC/OBB/demo reel).

For the student/amateur division, other winners include Sanayan Lang ang Pagpatay by Gil Joseph A. Sanchez for Category H (1-5 minutes), Paano Hulihin ang Araw by Jane Mariel L. Almoneda for Category I (6-20 minutes), Dream by Maryjane A. Dejumo for Category K (Music video), and Save Animals Habitat advocacy ad by Anthony Lemuel C. Reorizo for Category L (TVC/OBB/demo reel).

A special citation for mastery of storytelling was also given to Capili’s Pasintabi, while Sincillola by Victor Ian M. Covarrubias from Zamboanga won the best regional entry and the audience choice award, and Kaleh at Mbaki teaser by Dennis E. Sebastian received the best in technical quality award.

“This year’s harvest of winners is another testament to the Filipino’s creativity and excellence in the field of animation,” expressed Michael Kho Lim, executive director of Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI) and overall project director of Animahenasyon. “Indeed, the quality of entries that we receive each year keeps on getting better, and we are confident that we will have more original animated content that we can showcase here and abroad in the years to come.”

Organized by ACPI, Animahenasyon is an annual Filipino animation festival that features the different animation works of both aspiring and professional animators in the country through a competition. It serves as a venue for Filipino animators to present their world-class ideas, to open doors of opportunities, and a chance for them to meet and be inspired by the finest names in the industry.

And for those who were not able to join this year’s festival, Animahenasyon 2012 is now accepting entries. Next year’s festival will be held in De La Salle-College of St. Benilde from November 26-29.

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About Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc.

ACPI is a non-stock and non-profit organization whose member companies specialize mainly in, but not limited to, 2D, Flash or 3D animation. It aims to promote the animation industry globally with the intention of creating an identity for the Philippines to be considered amongst the preferred countries that service the animation industry.

As an organized body, ACPI aims to promote the Filipino talent both locally and internationally. With the cooperation of its members as well as the Philippine government, it is envisioned that the member studios and schools will be considered competitive both creatively and technologically.

ACPI’s vision is to make Philippines as the prime provider of animation and content creation services to the global marketplace. On the other hand, ACPI’s mission is to be the center of excellence for animation and content creation services through building more efficient and effective collaborative business practices that will elevate the country’s economy and culture.