Two Filipino short films to participate at 23rd Concorto Film Festival

Two Filipino short films are set to participate at an international festival in Italy this month!

"Radikals" by Arvin Belarmino and "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" by Sam Manacsa are part of the Official Selection of the 23rd Concorto Film Festival, which will run from Aug. 17 to 24 in Pontenure, Italy.

On social media, the Film Development Council of the Philippines congratulated the teams behind the short films and wished them the best of luck at the competition.

"Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" and "Radikals" will be screened on Aug. 22 at the Arena Parco Raggio.

"Radikals" follows the story of a young rookie from a bizarre chicken-dance group. As he encounters a heckler after a bad performance, he becomes involved in strange events that unveil what the group does to their worst dancer.

The 21-minute film had its world premiere in May this year at Semaine de la Critique, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Meanwhile, "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" centers on Mila, an unpaid worker who finds comfort in a love interest who often calls her on the phone. The short film, which spans 18 minutes, had its world premiere last year at the 80th Venice Film Festival as part of the Orizzonti section.

It was also among the short films that screened at the recently held Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. Sam won Best Director at the Cinemalaya 2024 awards, while "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" won Best Short Film.

This year's Concorto Film Festival will feature 45 short films in competition and more than 80 out-of-competition short films.

The international Concorto Film Festival began in 2001 in Pontenure, a commune in Piacenza Province. From only 72 submissions in its first edition, the film fest now sees more than 3,500 film submissions annually and is committed to select and showcase the best short films around the world.

— CDC, GMA Integrated News