Rey Anthony Villaverde’s Silkscreen, a short film from Dipolog and Dumaguete, won the Best Short Film award at the 22nd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, marking a triumphant return to the festival for the filmmaker following his 2024 metacinema comedy Ambot Wa Ko Kabalo Unsay I-Title Ani.
Starring Justine Lawrence Lopez, Nonoy Barbaso, and Mariel Barbaso, Silkscreen follows Roy, a young printer struggling to keep his family’s aging printing shop afloat while dealing with a growing pile of orders. As he works to save the business, Roy is also forced to confront the emotional distance between him and his aging father, the shop’s original owner.
The film explores the value of manual craftsmanship and the complexities of family legacy at a time when traditional work is increasingly challenged by digital automation and technology.
The Cinemalaya jury recognized Silkscreen for its textured cinematography, precise color grading, meticulous sound design, and its portrayal of the tactile world of a fading craft. The jury also praised its emotionally resonant story of legacy and reconciliation, highlighting the quiet tension and affection between a struggling son and his aging father.
For Villaverde, a Zamboanga del Norte native and Silliman University political science graduate, the story draws heavily from his childhood experience growing up around his family’s printing business.
“I grew up surrounded by our family’s printing business, which became the backdrop of my childhood and shaped who I am today,” Villaverde said. The sights, sounds, and smell of the printing shop became a familiar part of his upbringing and shaped his understanding of hard work and legacy.
Villaverde also sees the film as a reflection of a changing world, where manual crafts and traditional skills are increasingly being displaced by faster, digital, and automated processes.
“Traditional arts, the kind built on patience, skill, and sweat, are slowly being pushed aside,” he said.
Villaverde served as director, writer, editor, and co-producer of the film. He was joined by cinematographer El-El Barinaga, production designer Filamie Sami, musical scorer Emmauel Jaboneta, sound designers Nowell Teves, Anthony Silva, and Angelito Linogo, colorist Joe Nico Ebora, executive producer Rey S. Villaverde, co-producer Catherine T. Villaverde, co-producers Cham Guevarra and Derek Pulliam, assistant director Mariel Barbaso, and creative producer and script consultant Zig Dulay.
Following its Cinemalaya victory, Silkscreen will compete in the Lumayagan Shorts program of the 6th Oroquieta Film Festival in Misamis Occidental, scheduled for October 12 to 15.
