By Shayne Elizabeth T. Flores

Extending the Valentine’s Day celebration, Far Eastern University (FEU) Film Society (FilmSoc) spotlighted unconventional love stories in its annual film festival, ‘Piyu, I Love You (PILY): Decoding 143,’ with the award ceremony held at the Arts Building TV Studio last March 3.

In an interview with FEU Advocate, event proponents Mariah Denise Villaflores, Maya Whiteside, and Yel Pimentel underlined the central theme of this year’s PILY, which is ‘Breaking the Algorithm of Affection.’

“Gusto namin lumabas doon sa conventions ng expressions of love, which ‘yung mga typical na naririnig natin 'yung affection, 'yung touch, ‘yung giving time to another person. Gusto namin i-break ‘yun and… i-ask sa mga members namin kung paano nila gusto i-express ‘yung love nila in an unconventional way (We want to go beyond the conventions of expressing love, which typically consist of affection, touch, and giving time to another person. We want to break that and allow our members to express love in their own unconventional ways),” Whiteside explained.

Given the theme centered around computer algorithms, the film festival participants were given prompts as the basis for their movie’s narratives.

“‘Yung prompts ay based on coding phrases. Coding phrases, since ‘yun nga, naka-anchor siya sa… title na decoding (The prompts were based on coding phrases, which is anchored on the title ‘Decoding 143’),” Villaflores shared.

Apart from straying from the conventions of love, Pimentel added that this year’s PILY aims to cater to FilmSoc’s new generation of filmmakers.

“When we think of algorithm, we think of a system, a pattern. So, we thought na algorithm would be the best way to describe it in a way na maintindihan ng mas batang henerasyon sa amin (that would be understood by the younger generation). So, we want to break it. We want to break the algorithm. And that algorithm represents the… cliché plotlines, cliché storylines, or even the characters in the films. And we want to break that pattern,” he said.

The film festival held its screening last March 2, followed by the awarding ceremony the next day.

‘Double Invitation’ by Kenneth Cole Quincena clinched Best Film along with Best Poster, Best Sound Design by Darren Dino, and Best Leading Actor for Mateo Ferranco’s role.

Second Best Film ‘The Velvet Ants’ by Isaiah Domingo also bagged Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Performance (Female) for Paula Niña Rañara’s role.

Meanwhile, ‘Diary ng Pet Peeve’ by Louisa Osma was awarded Third Best Film, Best Direction, and Best Editing by Athena Velo.

Other awardees include ‘Lilies for Iristein’ by Gavin Brillante for Best Scoring and Best Leading Actress as received by Kirstin Inso, ‘Katas ng Pelus’ by Chelzea Mafae Alcantara for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design by Dexter Gawat and Ysabel Trinidad, and ‘Wansa’ for Best Supporting Performance (Male) as received by Gab Gonzales.

Additionally, production houses Silayan Productions and Apiary Industries received Best Production Photo.

PILY is a film festival held by FEU FilmSoc in celebration of Valentine’s Day, featuring short films made by its members.

(Photo by Rian Balagtas/FEU Advocate)