Cinemalaya 2008 Entries | PANGGARIS

In a small community, there lives a prostitute who was transformed when her deaf brother started to speak. Curiously, nobody could comprehend what he was saying: all he could utter was the word “Panggaris.” The event became even more puzzling when a documentarist arrived at the community and filmed the siblings. What he discovered is a story from the community folk that possibly marked a new legend.

Dexter B. Cayanes graduated with a degree in Philippine Studies, cum laude at the University of the Philippines-Diliman. He attended the Ricky Lee Script Writing Workshop in 1996 and the Creative Documentary Film Workshop in 2000. He has won several prizes in poetry and the short story category. He is a candidate for Ph.D. in Philippine Studies in De La Salle University-Manila, where he currently teaches.

The short film Panggaris is based on his poem of the same title which earned a prize from the state-run Talaang Ginto: Gawad Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino sa Tula—Gantimpalang Collantes 2007. One of his newest projects is a full-length film titled Rengga!

Source: http://www.starmometer.com/2008/07/03/2008-cinemalaya-film-festival-short-film-entries/