Agno wins at the First Moonrise Film Festival

Sixteen films covering various environmental and cultural issues competed for the top honors in the first Moonrise Film Festival held from August 18 to 21 2005 at the Gateway Mall in Metro Manila.

Produced in 2003 by the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, the Agno documentary brought home one of the major awards for its citation in the Rivers and Lakes category. It was also nominated in two minor categories – Best in Editing and Best Production Team.

The production of Agno was inspired by the struggle of the communities that were affected by the Philippine government’s flagship project, the San Roque Multi-Purpose Dam. It depicts the importance of the Agno River in the lives of communities living beside it. In moving images, the video documentary highlighted the people’s defense of their land, lives, resources and the future of their children.

‘Agno’ is a posthumous tribute to two leaders in the struggle – Lakay Pascual Pocding of Itogon, founding Chairperson of the Shalupirip Santahnay Indigenous Peoples Movement (SSIPM) and Ka Rodrigo Reyes of Nueva Ecija, former Chairperson of the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luzon (Peasant Alliance in Central Luzon).

Agno and the other films will form part of the environmental documentaries that will be toured in schools all over the Philippines beginning December 2005 to promote the plight of the environment. ‘Moving Mountains’ was awarded the grand prize in the film festival.

Led by the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE), the Moonrise Film Festival augments its vision of making environmental education available for all
Filipinos. The films present the vast array of environmental issues facing the country today.
These include mining, fisheries, biodiversity, vanishing cultures, and other water related issues.

“The Moonrise Film Festival is an initial attempt to provide a venue for the public
showing of documentary-format films focused on the Philippine environment and culture.”
remarked Jukka Holopainen President of CEAE. The event was sponsored by Ford
Conservation and Environmental Grants, Foundation for Philippine Environment, Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-Fisheries Resource Management Project (BFAR-FRMP),
Gateway Mall, Unilever Philippines, GMA 7,Manila Bulletin, Discover Philippines, and
Yehey.com.# Audrey Beltran

In the news: http://news.inq7.net/regions/index.php?index=1&story_id=48467/ Films on Agno River, Mindoro mining cited in festival