POSITIVITY and good vibes amid the COVID-19 pandemic are the qualities of the 2021 winners of the just-concluded Hulagway sa Davao Destination: #Home Video Making Contest.
The winner for first place and People’s Choice Award is the #Home Life is Here – the entry of James Matthew G. Badana. He was chosen among the 13 video entries in the second round of the “Hulagway” competition.
The video tells a story of a young man who does the simplest things to stay productive while in lockdown.
“Quirky and brimming with good vibes, perfectly encapsulates the #StayHome theme,” said Rudolph Ian Alama, the Information Officer III at Philippine Information Agency and festival director of Mindanao Film Festival.
Another judge, the founder, and cinematographer at Micromedia Digital Video Productions, McRobert Nacario, found this entry appealing because of its sound design and mood.
“It’s the creative use of sound design that set the overall mood of the video and its inclusion of many scenarios that one can do while staying at home. Its short punchline at the end also adds a comedic touch that makes the video memorable,” he said.
Badana bagged a P30,000 cash prize plus 10,000 for the People’s Choice Award.
For second place, Hiraya Uno Productions bagged the P20,000 cash prize for their entry entitled Summer at Home, which tells a story of a family who made their time truly productive while in lockdown.
“Summer at Home was the most optimistic and positive of all the videos, not to mention the most technically impressive,” said Nacario who voted the entry as first on his list of winners.
Alama also found the same piece “technically proficient”.
The margin of points between these two participants is only four points, which meant that a tough competition took place.
The third place, which bagged a 15,000 cash prize is the Home Escapade by Crestlane Production. The entry tells a story of a family who prepared for their lawn swimming session the same way they are going to the beach.
Meanwhile, the entries: Damgo sa Kalipay by KaVowg Productions, Ligo by David Mark Roco, Regalo by Jouveniel Phej Villanueva, and Tahan(an) by Kathak films took home the consolation prize, P10,000 each.
For Damgo sa Kalipay, Nacario said, the video evoked in him the same experience as watching an iced tea commercial.
“It reminds us of that iced tea commercial where the characters break from the reality that they are in, much like we, in the same way, we can only dream of better days,” he said.
For Ligo, Alama said that it is “simply fun”. Regalo, he said, is a “poignant analogy of birthday gift and staying at home.
Those who missed watching these videos can still watch them at Hulagway sa Davao Facebook Page.
City Chief Information officer Jefry Tupas said this year’s edition of the Hulagway sa Davao: Home Video Making Contest has been memorable because it was one of the ways for Dabawenyo families to show their initiatives in fighting the spread of COVID-19 in their homes.
“It’s very intimate as it allowed us to take a look at the homes of the Dabawenyos in the time of the pandemic. With the local government’s Stay Home campaign, unless travel was necessary, we saw how Dabawenyos spent their time with their families at home productively, safely, creatively. In Davao City, we say life is here. And our homes, our destinations,” Tupas said.
Hulagway sa Davao Contest Video Making Competition is a yearly event that started in 2014. Each year comes with a different theme to encourage aspiring groups or individuals, who are into filmmaking, to showcase what Davao City has to offer as a destination.
This year’s theme is Home. More than 30 entries were submitted when the competition opened in June 2021.
