Rey Anthony H. Chiu

A young Boholana has proven that she can carve a name for herself, not through politics which has made their family name one of Bohol’s political by-words. Twenty year- old Joan Robie del Rosario Cajes, third daughter of Trinidad Mayor Roberto Cajes and former mayor Judith, puts up a first-for the country at the International Academy for Film and Television when she credited to herself the distinction as the first true-blooded Filipino to be conferred the Best Student Thesis Award for her short film Alkansiya. “Alkansiya” is an 11 minute film Cajes submitted to the Academy as completion requirement for graduation at the film and television school, shares Trinidad information Officer Jojieline Ruiz-Buendia in a telephone interview. According to Buendia, Cajes’ foreign mentors had a mouthful of praises for the Boholana film shot in her hometown Trinidad, Talibon and Bien Unido in Bohol.

American mentors who assessed the film described the film as “based on reality,” and went on to laud Cajes’ as a realist with the truest script.” “It was the best film I have even seen in my two-year stay in the Film Academy,” said another Italian mentor Buendia did not identify. A Scottish mentor said “It was not a student film, it was really a “film.” Mentors recommend the handing out of the award for the Best Student Thesis to a student whose thesis project shows the highest level of technical proficiency and artistic merit of her graduation. Cajes received the award last March 10, on the occasion of the school’s 23 rd Commencement Exercises. The film was among those screened prior to the graduation ceremonies, separate sources said. Among those viewed before the rites were “Drop Dead Gorgeous,” “The Unexpected,” “Alkansiya” and two entries called Acting Reel films by different film-makers. For her feat, the Film Academy awards the Bronze Level, Academic Excellence in Film-making Award to Cajes for having earned the highest accumulated grade point average of 90.95 % of her film-making graduating class. Buendia said Cajes is also reportedly putting up her short film at the independent film festival.