The students of Mapua Makati’s Digital Film course gave everyone at the Mapua Cardinal Cinema a film experience that was one for the books during their VanGarde film screening on November 3, 2025. The four different clusters of short films explored varied interpretations of the human self, as well as what it really means to exist, live, and perceive ourselves.
While all the films presented were nothing short of excellent, there were entries that stuck to me the most. Cluster A’s “When the Room Filled Up” by Kenji Cortez and Ryu Geronimo depicts the madness that comes from the overwhelming sensation we all get from the digital notifications that cloud our senses from the moment we wake up until we clock out for the day. As college students, there is no doubt that this film made us reflect and relate to what our daily routine has become—to check our phones or laptops to see millions of notifications constantly reminding us that there’s another pile of deadlines, emails to check, meetings to attend, and groupings to take care of every single day. It’s bound to drive anyone mad.
Cluster B’s “PILE OF THE 2000S” by Adrian Andrade was a cunningly simple yet rich film that depicted, what I thought of, as a cycle of self-destruction and patterns told through a heaping pile of analog CDs. Andrade’s piece, while having no dialogue at all, spoke volumes about how people go from a clean slate only to wreak the same destruction over and over again despite the varying methods we use. It also tells a story of human relationships and how, whichever way you do it, if you keep hurting the people close to you, you will always end up with a pile of broken pieces to reflect on, with no way to turn them back to how they were.
“This is a Square” by Christian Caymo and Boris Abesamis also struck me as their film was an interactive piece that reflects on how deceptive media tricks its consumers into believing something that is factually incorrect. Coming from a heavily media-related course, their work is a calling for people like us to be more critical and not easily believe the information that we consume as viewers, especially in an age when information and facts are treated as a luxury and are being kept from us by those who control the strings.
Cluster C’s “sometimes, i do my skincare in the dark” by Mikyla Mae Alingasa and Nathaniel Cantonjos explores the concept of self-confidence, perception, and the expectations we put on ourselves under the influence of all the seemingly “perfect” people we see online. We often see the models and people in our beauty products—skincare, in this case—and often wish that we had the same complexion, weight, facial features, and just their sheer beauty that these corporations rely on, all so that we keep buying their products in the hopes that we can somehow attain even just a fraction of their beauty. This film is a soul-touching piece about the things we say to ourselves and the amount of products we put on our bodies all to appease the never-ending void that is our vanity.
Lastly, Cluster D’s “BINUBURLOLOYAN” by Bryan Espeña and Timothy Pujalte is a wonderful short film that tells a message of religion and false gods. Our country’s tradition of dressing our saints’ statues with different gowns, bits, and bobbles (ergo, “mga burloloy”) is something we are all far too familiar with, whether we’re visiting a relative’s home or just walking inside our own abodes. This film depicts the dual-faceted side of religion: one side bringing faith, love, and good intentions for some—while the other brings bigotry, harm, hate, and prejudice. Religion, especially in a very conservative country like ours, is dressed in the gold and shiny jewelry represented in how we also dress our saints. However, if we are to look just beyond the surface, we can see the corrupt and vile things that also come with how we go about addressing the subject of religion and faith.
All in all, the VanGarde Experimental Film Festival was nothing short of a success and an experience that I could only wish more people were able to enjoy. VanGarde gave us a number of think pieces that everyone can enjoy and resonate with, from the most esoteric themes all the way to a more conventional blockbuster hit.
The warmest congratulations and thanks to the awe-striking filmmakers who submitted their entries!
Photos by VanGarde Coverage Team & BMA STARS Mapúa
