02 December 2016, Dubai, UAE. The Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Northern Emirates in coordination with the Filipino Ladies of Dubai hosted the Commencement Exercises of Photography and Film Making Workshop on 01 December 2016 at the Mabini Hall of the Philippine Consulate. The Workshop, which ran for 10 weekends – from September to November 2016 for selected Filipino students from the Philippine Schools Overseas in Dubai and Sharjah, is a joint project between the Consulate, the Filipino Ladies of Dubai, and Canon UAE.
Parents, school faculty and administrators, and the selected students participated in the Commencement Exercises, along with representatives from Canon UAE which provided technical training for the participants. Certificates were provided to the participants and Canon UAE mentors.
The Workshop was divided into two (2) phases: the Photography Phase which taught the students basic principles in photography and the Film Making Course composed of the top 10 photography students selected from among the photos they submitted. The best photos taken during the Photography Phase are on display at the Consulate from 01 December 2016 to 01 March 2017.
The culmination of the Photography Phase was the publication of the coffee table book titled “Visionario,” a collection of all photos taken by the students and which was distributed to all participating students and their respective schools. The Consulate will also be distributing this to the Dubai Public Library System, all GCC Posts, and the DFA Home Office – OMEAA, OUIER, OSEC, and OPPC. Post will also request the Department to send copies to DepEd, CFO, NCCA, and other relevant agencies.
The Film Making Course, on the other hand, culminated in a 7-minute film titled “Oblivious.” The film was the group’s submission to the 48-Hour Film Project, the
difficult task to sustain that interest and to constantly improve in their craft. I also emphasized that this project hopes that Filipino students in the UAE would be further molded to be world class talents and professionals, a repute that generations before them have enjoyed.
The Commencement Exercises caps the Consulate-Filipino Ladies of Dubai collaboration on this Workshop, a 3 month project that took over 300 man hours planning, strategizing, conceptualizing, and finally executing the workshop outputs.
Plans for a 2017 edition of this Workshop is underway. END
