Impangabagat Nin Talakba Ha Likok, 2021
(It’s Raining Frogs Outside)
Written and Directed by Maria Estela Paiso | 14 mins
The end of the world is nigh and frogs are raining down from the sky.
Maya is back in her childhood home but it no longer feels like home.
Being forced to be alone is torture and her memories
are increasingly condensing into a fever dream.
Available on The Criterion Channel
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“We give the International Award to a film that has created a shared visual language to convey the interiority of its protagonist. In a unique blend of live action, animation, visual effect, and archival footage, the film explores the boundaries between memory, nightmare, and reality. The film’s dice into a particular experience expands upon universal existential themes of loneliness, mental illness, trauma, and alientation. Both inspired by and able to transcend the COVID pandemic, the filmmaker produces a haptic experience that explores the visceral horrors of the (female) body and its relation to being perceived.”
International Award citation at the Leiden Shorts 2022
“Using a memorable breath of haptic and tactile images and innovative animation techniques, this film is a deeply emotive exploration of feeling trapped by the inner demons of social expectations and one’s own desires. Even though the film offers a dark exploration of isolation, its balance of playful counterpoints is a poetic expression of the vulnerabilities of a young generation.”
Deframed Award citation at the Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg 2022
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
▻ QCinema International Film Festival 2021 Philippines
▻ 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Germany
▻ MoMA New Directors New Films 2022 USA
▻ VIS Vienna Shorts 2022 Austria
▻ Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg 2022 Germany
▻ Leiden Shorts International Short Film Festival 2022 Netherlands
▻ Festival Internacional de Cine de Valencia 2022 Spain
▻ Cinemalaya Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Concorto Film Festival 2022 Italy
▻ Melbourne International Film Festival 2022 Australia
▻ Seoul Women’s International Film Festival 2022 South Korea
▻ Encounters Film Festival 2022 UK
▻ BFI London Film Festival 2022 UK
▻ SeaShorts Film Festival 2022 Malaysia
▻ Vancouver International Film Festival 2022 Canada
▻ Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival 2022 Romania
▻ Reykjavik International Film Festival 2022 Iceland
▻ Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporaneo 2022 Mexico
▻ Festival du Nouveau Cinema de Montreal 2022 Canada
▻ Thess International Short Film Festival 2022 Greece
▻ Riga International Film Festival 2022 Latvia
▻ Imagine Sciene Film Festival 2022 USA
▻ Laussane Underground Film & Music Festival 2022 Switzerland
▻ Uppsala Short Film Festival 2022 Sweden
▻ AFI Fest 2022 USA
▻ San Diego Asian Film Festival 2022 USA
▻ 26th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur Switzerland
▻ 38th Interfilm International Short Film Festival Berlin Germany
▻ 16th Kurzfilmfestival Koeln Germany
▻ 39th Kasseler Dok Fest Germany
▻ Singapore International Film Festival 2022 Singapore
▻ Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2022 Indonesia
▻ Sundance Film Festival 2023 USA
▻ London Short Film Festival 2023 UK
▻ 17th Pragueshorts Film Festival Czech Republic
▻ 13th Festival Internacional de Cine de Murcia IBAFF Spain
▻ Florida Film Festival 2023 USA
▻ 35th Filmfest Dresden Germany
▻ Mägede Hääl 2023 Estonia
▻ Fantasia Festival 2023 Canada
▻ Aegean Film Festival 2023 Greece
▻ Denver Digerati Emergent Media Festival 2023 USA
▻ DOK Leipzig 2023 Germany
▻ Denver Film Festival
EXHIBITIONS
▻ Cinemarehiyon 2022 Philippines
▻ Oakland Drunken Film Fest USA
▻ Binisaya Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Cine De Oro Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Speculative Documents Belvedere21 Singapore
▻ CineMint Film Festival 2023 Philippines
▻ Moving Eyelands Found In Translation 2023 USA
▻ Treefort Music Fest 2023 USA
▻ Garfield Short Spotlight Series Volume 1 USA
▻ Association for Southeast Asian Cinemas Conference Philippines
▻ UCLA Unsettling Landscapes USA
▻ MCAD X MovingImage: from underwater mountains fire makes islands Philippines
▻ When The Apocalypse Is Over, New Independent Philippine Cinema USA
AWARDS
▻ Gender Sensitivity Award, QCinema International Film Festival Philippines
▻ Deframed Award, Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Germany
▻ International Award, Leiden Shorts Netherlands
▻ Grand Jury Prize, Special Mention for Editing, AFI Fest USA
▻ Golden Horseman Animated Film, 35th Filmfest Dresden Germany
▻ QCinema International Film Festival 2021 Philippines
▻ 72nd Berlin International Film Festival Germany
▻ MoMA New Directors New Films 2022 USA
▻ VIS Vienna Shorts 2022 Austria
▻ Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg 2022 Germany
▻ Leiden Shorts International Short Film Festival 2022 Netherlands
▻ Festival Internacional de Cine de Valencia 2022 Spain
▻ Cinemalaya Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Concorto Film Festival 2022 Italy
▻ Melbourne International Film Festival 2022 Australia
▻ Seoul Women’s International Film Festival 2022 South Korea
▻ Encounters Film Festival 2022 UK
▻ BFI London Film Festival 2022 UK
▻ SeaShorts Film Festival 2022 Malaysia
▻ Vancouver International Film Festival 2022 Canada
▻ Bucharest International Experimental Film Festival 2022 Romania
▻ Reykjavik International Film Festival 2022 Iceland
▻ Black Canvas Festival de Cine Contemporaneo 2022 Mexico
▻ Festival du Nouveau Cinema de Montreal 2022 Canada
▻ Thess International Short Film Festival 2022 Greece
▻ Riga International Film Festival 2022 Latvia
▻ Imagine Sciene Film Festival 2022 USA
▻ Laussane Underground Film & Music Festival 2022 Switzerland
▻ Uppsala Short Film Festival 2022 Sweden
▻ AFI Fest 2022 USA
▻ San Diego Asian Film Festival 2022 USA
▻ 26th Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur Switzerland
▻ 38th Interfilm International Short Film Festival Berlin Germany
▻ 16th Kurzfilmfestival Koeln Germany
▻ 39th Kasseler Dok Fest Germany
▻ Singapore International Film Festival 2022 Singapore
▻ Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival 2022 Indonesia
▻ Sundance Film Festival 2023 USA
▻ London Short Film Festival 2023 UK
▻ 17th Pragueshorts Film Festival Czech Republic
▻ 13th Festival Internacional de Cine de Murcia IBAFF Spain
▻ Florida Film Festival 2023 USA
▻ 35th Filmfest Dresden Germany
▻ Mägede Hääl 2023 Estonia
▻ Fantasia Festival 2023 Canada
▻ Aegean Film Festival 2023 Greece
▻ Denver Digerati Emergent Media Festival 2023 USA
▻ DOK Leipzig 2023 Germany
▻ Denver Film Festival
EXHIBITIONS
▻ Cinemarehiyon 2022 Philippines
▻ Oakland Drunken Film Fest USA
▻ Binisaya Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Cine De Oro Film Festival 2022 Philippines
▻ Speculative Documents Belvedere21 Singapore
▻ CineMint Film Festival 2023 Philippines
▻ Moving Eyelands Found In Translation 2023 USA
▻ Treefort Music Fest 2023 USA
▻ Garfield Short Spotlight Series Volume 1 USA
▻ Association for Southeast Asian Cinemas Conference Philippines
▻ UCLA Unsettling Landscapes USA
▻ MCAD X MovingImage: from underwater mountains fire makes islands Philippines
▻ When The Apocalypse Is Over, New Independent Philippine Cinema USA
AWARDS
▻ Gender Sensitivity Award, QCinema International Film Festival Philippines
▻ Deframed Award, Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg Germany
▻ International Award, Leiden Shorts Netherlands
▻ Grand Jury Prize, Special Mention for Editing, AFI Fest USA
▻ Golden Horseman Animated Film, 35th Filmfest Dresden Germany
▻ NCCA Ani Ng Dangal Award Philippines