EMC students win multiple awards at 5th IGPAAHA Film Festival for short documentary

Bachelor of Science in Entertainment and Multimedia Computing (BS EMC) students from Bukidnon State University (BukSU) received multiple awards for their short documentary BALAY at the 5th IGPAAHA Short Documentary Film Festival on March 27, 2026, held as part of Malaybalay City’s Charter Day celebration.

Competing in the Student Category, BALAY won the People’s Choice Award, Best Editing, and 1st Runner-Up.

The documentary was produced by GIRLY POPS Productions and created by a team of student filmmakers composed of Margeaux Therese Tulang (director and video editor), Bianca Nicolette M. Garcia (co-video editor), Xania Maitri Cabunoc (video director), Eda Laarne Mendio (co-video director), Sinead Jalacdon (script writer and narrator), and Angela Nadean Cabunoc (narrator). The production was guided by film adviser Mark Ian Mukara. Bianca Nicolette M. Garcia and Czarina Amor Chavez also appeared as actors in the film.

The festival carried the theme “Sugilanon sa Pag Tikang Palayo sa Yutang Natawhan,” which centered on narratives of stepping away from one’s homeland and confronting the realities of a changing Malaybalay. The competition and recognition program formed part of the city’s Charter Day activities.

Set in Malaybalay City, BALAY documents the city’s transition from the “City in the Forest” into a regional urban center, examining how development alters familiar spaces and affects residents’ sense of place. Through interviews and visual documentation, the film presents accounts from community members on changes in the landscape and their implications for memory, identity, and belonging. (Louie Jay Labastida/ Faculty, IT Department)