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ANIMAHENASYON,
THEN AND NOW

by Teddy Co, 2017 jury member,
NCAA Commissioner for the Arts

Ten years ago, I was invited by Ricky Orellana to be part of the final judging
committee of the first ever ANIMAHENASYON Film Festival. The thing I remember
very distinctly was that one of my fellow jurors, a cantankerous although amiable
German who had been a veteran animator at Walt Disney Studios kept on
complaining about the low overall quality of those pioneer entries. Although I
did not fully agree with his views then, I admitted to myself that animation as an
art form still had some ways to go in this country, even as some professionals
had been outsourced to do foreign-looking animation content for American and
Japanese companies. I’ve forgotten the names of my colleagues on that first set
of jurors for the first festival, but we were like planners sifting through silt to recover
some slivers of gold dust or pellets, if there were any at all. Fortunately we hit
pay dirt, in the two films of Nelson ‘Blog’ Caliguia, Jr., which we gave the grand
prize to. His films, Doodle of Doom and Inday Wanda, not only used local subject
matter, but were trying to develop a distinctly Filipino aesthetic in its use of
animation.

Fast forward to ten years later, on Oct. 28, to be exact. Ricky Orellana invites me
to be on the jury again, this time for the 11th edition of ANIMAHENASYON. Here I
am with my two fellow jury members, Avic IIagan and Sigmund Lambrento, sifting
through dozens of titles, divided into professional and student categories. Same
procedure, but without the cantankerous ex-Disney animator bellowing out his low
opinions of each film. But had he been present with us, he would have been
astonished at the high quality and sheer diversity of styles of the films, which came
from different parts of the Philippines. In the past ten years, ANIMAHENASYON
has created a competitive platform for Filipino animators to develop and evolve
their art, and to keep up with what’s happening in the animation scene, both
locally and internationally. It has helped create standards that students and young
professionals can look up to for guidance and inspiration. Its parent organization, the
Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI) has networked with local outsourcing
companies and various schools to promote animation not just as an industry, but
as an art form. Through the festival, it is branching out into areas where animation
will be playing an important facet, like in video gaming, art installations, and
virtual reality. But in the long term, the works presented need to be properly
disseminated, so that eventually, the films made by artists like Blog Caliguia,
Roxlee, Ellen Ramos, Ramon del Prado, Kenny Tai, Antonio Cadiz, Arnold Arre, etc.,
become as known and recognizable as those of Walt Disney, Hayao Miyazaki, or Jan
Svankmajer.
Looking forward to another ten years of ANIMAHENASYON!

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