Filipino film “Tubbataha: A National Treasure” continues to bag awards from different award-winning bodies worldwide.
It ended 2018 with the recognition as the Best Biodiversity Preservation Tourism Film 2018 at the 7th Zagreb TourFilm Festival in Croatia, where over a hundred short films from all over the world were shown.
The award was received last October 12 on behalf of the production team by Honorary Consul General to Croatia Davor Stern.
The five-minute short film explores the beauty of Tubbataha and takes every viewer into its depths while simulating a diving experience into a world which is “so different from the one above it, yet which looks and feels familiar”. Aside from boosting tourism, the film aims to “educate both the public and experienced divers to conserve and protect this UNESCO World Heritage Site.”
The film was created by the Don Antonio O. Floirendo, Sr. (AOF) Foundation and Bullet Manila for the Tubbataha Management Office. Its director, Placido Falsario II, also has the advocacy of promoting the preservation of the Tubbataha Reef Natural Park.
Zagreb TourFilm Festival, member of Comité International des Festivals du Film Touristique (CIFFT), recognizes films and audiovisual productions that promote tourism.
Also among the film’s recent wins was the 1st Prize under the Doc Section for Environment and Ecology at the 9th Amorgos Tourism Film Festival (Amorgos, Greece) on October 31-November 5, 2018. It also landed spots and earned nominations in the Tourfilm Riga 2018 – Tourism Film Festival (Riga, Latvia), 2018 Terres Catalunya – ECO & TRAVEL FILM FESTIVAL (Catalonia, Spain), SILAFEST TOURFILM FESTIVAL 2018 (Veliko Gradiste,Serbia), and the 51st International Tourism Film Festival (Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic)
In 2017, the film garnered awards in several festivals, including winning the Best Asian Film in the EcoTourism Category at the10th Art&Tur International Tourism Film Festival (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal).
Watch the film here.
