Delivering a compelling emotional narrative, Carl Joseph Lara’s short documentary Kahayag sa Kangitngit won the BINISAYA Film Festival 2021 Jury Prize and the BINISAYA Audience Choice Award. Lara is a third-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) major in Cinema student at the University of San Carlos.

“I wasn’t expecting that… I hope that the film inspires many people to thrive despite their adversities just like him (referring to the film’s subject Tatay Ining)… especially during the pandemic. This film has affected me. I almost dropped this film since I could not handle the stress that Tatay Ining was going through. But I just put my heart and mind to it,” said a very surprised and emotional Lara. He completed the film during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On November 11 to 20, 2021, the BINISAYA Film Festival entered its second decade in the festival circuit. It continues its mission to provide a platform to showcase films with uniquely Cebuano sensibility and global cinema unfettered by commercial constraints. Now on its 11th year, it maintains its quest for independent and new voices while keeping abreast with its counterparts in the Asian region.

The B.F.A. major in Cinema is now on its 10th year in the School of Architecture, Fine Arts, and Design.