The Guam International Film Festival (GIFF) has officially announced its open call for entries to begin on February 1st, for its third annual event scheduled to take place in September. Submission forms can be completed here on the official GIFF website.

Deadlines to submit films for the 2013 Guam International Film Festival are:
April 5, 2013 – Earlybird Postmark Deadline
June 7, 2013 – Regular Deadline
July 5, 2013 – Late Deadline
July 19, 2013 – WAB Extended Postmark Deadline

Festival categories for both feature-length and short films include Narrative, Documentary, Animation, Made in the Marianas, Music Video and Student Under 18. Submission fees are waived for entries that qualify for the Made in the Marianas and Student Under 18 categories. Works that are eligible must have been completed after January 1, 2012. The submission form and complete information regarding eligibility and official entry rules for the 2013 Guam International Film Festival are available by clicking here.

“In just two years we’ve seen tremendous growth in not only the amount of submissions and global awareness of the Guam International Film Festival, but also the caliber of filmmaking that has come to our shores”, said GIFF Program Director Kel Muna. “Nearly two-hundred submissions from twenty-seven different countries featuring Oscar winners and regional filmmakers have made its way to GIFF last year“, adds Muna. “We’re very excited to see what’s in store for 2013.”

Community, Education and Entertainment
Founded by filmmakers Don and Kel Muna in 2011, the Guam International Film Festival (GIFF) is an international cinema event exhibiting a dynamic source of cross-cultural artistic presence, bridging gaps among the U.S., Asia and the Pacific’s multi-cultural population and region. GIFF is the first and only annual U.S. film festival in the western pacific. GIFF’s mission is to foster cultural understanding through the art of cinema, while providing opportunities for local talent to flourish through the international cinema market. In its brief history, GIFF has already screened works featuring some of the most notable U.S. talent including Oscar winner Alex Gibney, Emmy winner Sasha Alpert, Adam Brody, Gwen Stefani, Jay Duplass, Richard Gere, Stan Lee and Roger Corman as well as top Asian talent such as Kazuhiro Soda (Japan), Benito Bautista (Philippines), Sang-Cheol Lee, Ah-Ga Shin (Korea) and Yeh Tien-Lun (Taiwan).

For more information, feel free to check out the GIFF FAQs.

The third year of GIFF will be a little different compared to the first two: this year, GIFF will have a theme.

Though the founders of GIFF had always intended to have a theme, they decided to hold off until the festival had started to take shape before slapping on a theme. After all, the festival is still young, hitting only three years old this September. Fortunately, with great sponsors, volunteers and the hard work of the Muña brothers themselves, GIFF was deemed ready enough for a theme by its third year: ‘Beyond the See’.

The title of the theme is a play on words derived from two “classic tales in song”: “Beyond the Reef” and “Beyond the Sea“.

“It’s part longing and part discovery,” tells Muña. “It coincides with the threads of most independent films on the festival circuit today; where these great stories take you beyond the surface of what you think you see and help you to dive much deeper into hidden depths of discovery within the film, its characters and yourself.”

Once the theme was decided, a poster needed to be designed and the Muñas decided there was no one better to design it than Agerstrand himself. “We chose Josh because first and foremost, we love his work,” said Muña. “Secondly, he’s a local guy with world-class talent who is doing positive things in his community. Presenting opportunities to local artists is very relevant to GIFF’s purpose”

Muña stated that they wanted to portray “creative chaos on a small island” and it just so happened to turn out that way. Muña had seen Agerstrand’s owl before and wanted it to be the focal point. “Come on, how perfect is that owl?,” pronounced Muña. “The all-wise and all-knowing owl with highly sensitive sight WEARING GLASSES?! Perfect.”

Agerstrand recalled Muña saying that the owl reminded him of Richard Scarry and the idea stuck.

“I’m gonna do a ton of characters,” thought Agerstrand. “That’ll be fun!” Like many of Richard Scarry’s works, the GIFF3 poster features a bunch of lively characters and lots of business without too much of a sensory overload.

Though Agerstrand is not used to creating such busy pieces, he wasn’t disheartened during the creation of this poster. Despite the number of hours he put into it, the end result is amazing and turned out to fit in beautifully with the theme of this year’s fest as well as the mission of the fest overall. “I was very inspired to do it,” noted Agerstrand. “I love what the festival is all about. I wanted to go as crazy as possible and inspire creativity.”

Things have continued to fall into place for GIFF 3 as it seems that even without its reveal, submissions have been fitting in perfectly with GIFF3′s theme. Muña expressed some amazement that the submissions that have been coming in have been “smack-dab on target with this year’s theme of discovery.” Along with the amazement, came excitement for GIFF being able to be used as a spring board for all the stories waiting to be shared — internationally! All the while, these amazing stories  — from chasing dreams to overcoming odds — will also be reminding audiences that “what you see is NOT always what you get”.

“So by some odd interference,” said Muña, “the films are already setting the tone; as if we emitted the vibe and the universe heard us and sent us these great films.”

“Or, ” he added,”…maybe we just see what we want to see.”

Alhough it’s months away, regular GIFF-goers should be shaking in anticipation for GIFF3 and what is in store “Beyond the See”!

GIFF3 poster design by Joshua Agerstrand

In this film “an elderly nuclear survivor from Bikini Atoll summons a mysterious ancient deity to help reunite his family”. A synopsis written by Martin Wong notes that The Sound of Crickets at Night “skillfully balances deadly radiation with the supernatural, family dysfunction with innocence, and isolation with inner peace. The results are oddly charming yet shadowed by darkness so that it never becomes cloying.” The film is set in the Marshall Islands and is in mostly Marshallese with English subtitles.

Not only was The Sound of Crickets at Night an official selection in the most recent GIFF but it also received a grand jury award for “Achievement in Acting”. It was also an official selection for other film festivals, such as the Hawaii International Film Festival.

This May, it looks like Niedenthal & Chutaro have an opportunity in what is known to be as the U.S.’s hub of film-making. The Sound of Crickets at Night will be playing at the Los Angeles Asia Pacific Film Festival. Anyone who is going to be in L.A. in May shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity to catch it! The film will be screened on May 8th at 7PM at the CVG Theatres. More screening and ticket information can be found HERE.

However, those who can’t be in La La Land for the LAAPFF shouldn’t fret! The film will be available on DVD for pre-order in May and then for sale in June HERE.

DVD cover for Ainikien Jidjid ilo Boñ (The Sound of Crickets at Night)

For more information on The Sound of Crickets at Night or more of Niedenthal & Chutaro’s filmmaking adventures check out their website HERE and don’t forget to “like” them on Facebook HERE!

“Not a Filmmaker”

Because of what Certeza does for a living, he is often referred to as a filmmaker. However, the word usually leaves him feeling tense responding with, “no, I work on movies”. “It gets tossed around way too much,” said Certeza. “It gets silly. It seems that any kid with a camera is a filmmaker.”

Instead, Certeza refers to himself as an aspiring cinematographer, a student of motion picture. Though he has a handful of years of experience under his belt, he would not call himself a cinematographer. He sees a cinematographer as someone who has had at least 50 years of experience. However, he is constantly striving to learn more about cinematography, shooting more things in order to build his knowledge in the artform.

In fact, he almost doesn’t seem satisfied with himself. “I’m a huge perfectionist,” he admitted. Scrolling through his IMDB page, he finds that it dulls in comparison to all of the people that he looks up to.

Of course, that doesn’t mean he isn’t proud of the works that he has been able to accomplish. Recently, in October of 2012, Certeza just wrapped the film “A Bit of Badluck” and it is currently in post-production. The film had a 3 million dollar budget, stars Cary Elwes and Teri Polo, and took about five weeks of filming. To him, the heavy amount of pressure and responsibility gave him that “I made it” feeling that he had been looking for.

When asked about what it is about making movies that he loves so much, he almost can’t find the right words to fully describe how he sees his work. “It’s an artform, you know? It’s hard to box that in,” he said. Certeza noted that he is an adrenaline junkie and somehow, he found his fix in the film industry.

“What gets me going is taking someone’s idea and telling that story visually and making it come to life,” proclaimed Certeza. For him, knowing that the films he works on will “impact, inspire people and last forever” is “extremely magical”.

Coming Back Home

After all those years working in motion picture in Seattle, his family brought him back to Guam. “Getting caught up with the fast pace in the motion picture industry, you lose track of time. After a 4 features back to back run in 2012, my wife and I decided to take a break and catch up with the family before we make the permanent move to La La Land.”

Though he didn’t originally intend to stay, it seems that a permanent move back home might actually be in the works for Certeza. After getting in touch with Guam’s local film industry, he may have found that he doesn’t have to leave after all. “Given the opportunity to stay at home with my family and also keep up the pace that I am so addicted to is a dream come true. My second feature length film in the horizon with Don and Kel Muna slated for Summer 2013.”

With Guam’s local film industry on a constant growth rate, more and more filmmakers — including Certeza, himself — are finding that they don’t have to leave the island in order to pursue their passions. ”Guam’s Independent film industry is growing so fast with the many local talent rooted here on the island,” declared Certeza. “The amount of passion on set makes me feel like I never left Seattle.”

To know more about the films that Alan Certeza has worked on, check out his IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3936036/

“I would like to thank to the film committee of Guam International Film Festival. It is a great honor to receive this award. I also would like to mention all my friends and family who have given me constant support. The film represents my attitude about life. It always not easy to overcome the obstacles or challenges by oneself. I am very lucky to get these past doors opened by a lot of help of my family and my friends.

Thank you and I wish all the best for GIFF.”

Yoshino Aoki
Best Animation Award Winner
Director/Animator, “DOOR”
Canada

“To the Guam International Film Festival! Thank you so much for this honor. We are very touched by your recognition. We are particularly honored to have won in Guam – not just because it is one of the most beautiful places on earth – but also because we are glad that our film about injustice has resonated with your audience in Guam. We are grateful, that as a very small island that has had more than its share of injustice in history, your festival is sensitive to the important and often universal issues that our film addresses. We hope that its story about injustice in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution will not only remind audiences that the Arab Spring is far from complete – but serve as a testament to wherever human rights are not respected.

Thank you so much for this honor, and we are sorry we were not able to be with you, to watch films, and then to move to your beaches and to see your sunsets that we think are certainly the most beautiful in the world!

Thanks again!”
Petr Lom
Grand Jury Award Winner – Best Documentary Feature
Director, “BACK TO THE SQUARE”
Norway

“Hi, this is Kentaro Hagiwara, the director of Super Star. I’m very honored to have such a wonderful award. I would like to thank to all the crews, actors, members of Short Shorts Film Festival, and my mother who is the model of the main character, Toshiko.

Nowadays, Korean idols are very popular in Japan especially for middle-aged women. Most of the time, young people look at them so coldly because they sometimes overdo the groupie aspect that makes young people feel disgusted. However, I oppose the tendency. The Korean idols treat their fans like royalty. At fan events, they look fans straight in the eyes, smile, say “I love you” in Japanese, shake hands, and even hug. All the treats remind the women of their youth.

This means that most of all Japanese men do not treat their wives like ladies. Therefore, what I tried to achieve through the film is focusing on the girl’s feeling as a middle-aged groupie and portraying the character from different aspects. If I have a chance to apply to GIFF for my future project, I will go to Guam for sure. Once again, I extend my appreciation to all the members of GIFF.

Thank you.”
Sincerely,
Kentaro Hagiwara
Grand Jury Award Winner – Best Narrative Short
Director, “SUPERSTAR”
Japan