Cheyenne Suarez

Veteran filmmaker Raymond Red with Cinegoma Film Festival founder Xavier Cortez meet the press. Josh Mercado

Article (news)

AI-ready? Cinegoma Film Fest introduces artificial intelligence category

Josh Mercado

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1753933451984Cinegoma-Film-Fest.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Veteran filmmaker Raymond Red with Cinegoma Film Festival founder Xavier Cortez meet the press. Josh Mercado "/>Veteran filmmaker Raymond Red with Cinegoma Film Festival founder Xavier Cortez meet the press. Josh Mercado </div>For the first time in Philippine film competition history, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) has been revealed as part of this year&#x27;s Cinegoma Film Festival, founded by businessman Xavier Cortez with award-winning director Raymond Red serving as creative consultant. Cortez, the owner of RK Rubber Enterprise Co., brushed aside criticisms leveled regarding the use of AI, such as diminishing opportunities for actual filmmakers, by stating that it is about embracing up-to-date possibilities.Now in its sixth year as a film festival, Cortez told ABS-CBN News, “Kasi po, mangyayari at mangyayari na siya. Talagang darating na po tayo sa point na ‘yun. Darating na po tayo sa point na talagang baka pagdating ng panahon, puro AI po.”Cortez continued by comparing the evolution of filmmaking in the past and presently, “Kahit po ‘yung dati, ‘di ba, nagsimula ‘yung cinema sa film hanggang sa naging digital. Tapos, ‘yung mga phone dati, hindi makakuha ng magagandang mga video. Pero ngayon, okay na rin. Lumalaban na rin po ‘yung mga phone. So, talagang hindi na po siya maiiwasan. Darating at darating talaga ‘yung time na nandyan na po talaga ‘yung AI.”“Siguro po, at least po, kami sa Cinegoma ang naunang nag-open ng AI category,” he proudly added.While the entrepreneur who launched the film festival in 2019 completely supports the use of AI in filmmaking, Red, the festival&#x27;s creative consultant, is considering all perspectives and potential negative impacts.He told ABS-CBN News, “Ako, like any filmmaker, it&#x27;s scary. ‘Yan ang discussion diyan.”<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1753916612082image1 (7).jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px" alt="Josh Mercado"/>Josh Mercado</div>The veteran director continued, “Iniingatan natin ‘yan. I think ang important is to consider it a tool. So, sa ganyang category, you cannot really judge ‘yung mga submissions for cinematography or acting. Unfair ‘yun eh. Ang i-judge mo rin is concept, which is the prompting. And then, may skill din naman ‘yun sa pag-prompt in a sense. But it&#x27;s really the concept. So, ‘yun lang ang, I think, ang ipu-push natin at ire-recognize natin. And that sends a message na nga na, ultimately, ‘yun ang importante eh, ‘yung konsepto pa rin eh.”Welcoming AI use with wide arms, Red added, “Thinking forward na — ‘yan ‘yung discussion. ‘Yan ang pinag-uusapan din naming mga filmmakers sa AI. Yes, kapag nag-takeover ‘yan, mawawala ang certain jobs. But I think ang far future niya, ultimately, people will start going against it again.”After all of this, the world-renowned storyteller highlighted that viewers will still strive for &quot;authenticity&quot; and &quot;soul&quot; in a film.“Kasi we will start wanting authenticity, soul. Mararamdaman natin. Darating tayo sa point na kahit gaano kaganda ‘yung AI, alam natin na AI ‘yung pinapanood natin. ‘Yung discussion nga ngayon, confusing na. ‘Di na natin alam kung alin ang totoo at AI. I think darating din tayo sa point na we&#x27;re so sophisticated as thinkers. We can tell na, ‘AI ito. Walang soul.’ So hahanapin din natin ulit ‘yan sa future,” he shared with ABS-CBN News.As part of the film festival promoting AI, Red had to say: “So kaya nga I think ang focus ‘pag naggawa ka ng AI category is to make sure na ang message na sine-send mo ay it’s really the idea and the concept na may tao behind that. Siya ‘yung nag-isip. At ‘yun ang nire-recognize natin.”<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1753916633920image2 (4).jpeg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Veteran filmmaker Raymond Red with Cinegoma Film Festival founder Xavier Cortez meet the press. Josh Mercado " style="width:950px"/>Veteran filmmaker Raymond Red with Cinegoma Film Festival founder Xavier Cortez meet the press. Josh Mercado </div><div>&#x27;May Kuwento Ang Bawat Laban&#x27;</div>Cinegoma traces its origins back to Cortez&#x27;s rubber firm, with &quot;goma&quot; being the Tagalog equivalent of the term rubber. His company is one of the country&#x27;s top rubber providers, with a large customer base.It now has branches in Metro Manila, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and Cebu. In 2022, the company secured a large project as part of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX). It also won multiple business awards for being Asia&#x27;s leading provider of industrial rubber products.Despite his accomplishments in business, Cortez revealed that he had always wanted to be a filmmaker, describing himself as a &quot;lover of art.&quot;He then decided to launch the film festival in 2019, which provides venues for both student and regional filmmakers.“Marami pong kuwento sa paggawa ng goma, parang sa paggawa ng pelikula. Kasi po, ang mga goma na ginagawa namin, hindi naman siya pansinin. Ang goma, kumbaga ‘yung mga pyesa, mga parts ‘yan na hindi pinapansin ‘yan, pero sa likod po ng bawat pyesa ay mayroon pong kwento ng isang manggagawa (workers) na nangarap, lumaban nang patas, at higit sa lahat ay nag-struggle pero sinusubukan pa rin,” Cortez said.He added, “Kung gusto lang talaga namin ng pera, nag-focus na lang po kami sa goma. ‘Yung Cinegoma po, talagang ginagawa namin ‘yan for the love of the art. And then para rin po ‘yung kwento ng mga manggagawa ng RK Rubber, naibabahagi rin namin sa ibang mga tao. Gusto naming i-share ‘yung culture namin sa ibang tao.“With the theme &quot;May Kuwento Ang Bawat Laban,&quot; the 6th Cinegoma Film Festival welcomes all short filmmakers, with the following requirements: total running time of 10 to 15 minutes, originality, and all topics excluding political and religious. To participate in the film festival, applicants must follow all RK Rubber social media pages. Cash prizes will be awarded.

For the first time in Philippine film competition history, the use of AI has been revealed as part of this year's Cinegoma Film Festival, founded by businessman Xavier Cortez with award-winning director Raymond Red serving as creative consultant.

For the first time in Philippine film competition history, the use of AI has been revealed as part of this year's Cinegoma Film Festival, founded by businessman Xavier Cortez with award-winning director Raymond Red serving as creative consultant.