Last Updated on May 29, 2023 by Kapuluan
(Los Angeles, California, November 3rd, 2017) – Kapuluan’s Documentary Short film Kinabuhi has won 3 prestigious Film Festivals over the summer and fall seasons. A story about Filipino Coconut Farmers struggling to survive a Way-of-Life exploited by industrial agriculture and crippled by disasters like Typhoon Haiyan, Kinabuhi was officially selected for 5 Film Festivals, winning the Award of Excellence and Award of Merit from The Impact DOCS Awards Competition and the IndieFest Awards Competition, and Best Documentary Short at The California International Shorts Film Festival.
Over 60% of Coconut farmers in the Philippines live in extreme poverty, despite the ubiquitous resource, the country’s top commodity. Kinabuhi features an exceptional storyline in a remote coconut farming village in Eastern Samar, Philippines, and was shot and edited by Award Winning Filmmaker Danny Cooke.
“Kinabuhi will always be extremely special because of our connection with the coconut farmers and their community. We knew they would be the most essential and extraordinary part of the film. However, it was tough to get them to say anything negative about their livelihood, which was important because our goal was to raise awareness that over 60% of coconut farmers in The Philippines live in extreme poverty and face numerous challenges. We had to pull teeth to get the story right, and then there was the directing, with a language barrier, in 40 degrees and 100% humidity, in the middle of the forest.
Danny is repeatedly asking them [the farmers] to climb 100ft coconut trees, putting themselves in danger each time. They wanted to do their work, and we kept asking them to stop and do it again. It was tough, but the farmers never complained, got upset, or questioned anything we asked. They did it with a smile and pride and never asked for anything. These qualities make these guys unique, and their character and warm-heartedness shine through in the film. The awards mean the most to us because we know the farmers will be proud.” Kapuluan Founder said in a statement.
Kapuluan’s owner said, “Kinabuhi was initially made for online distribution to support a crowd-funding campaign. We never considered film festivals, but we wanted to expose the story to a wider audience, so we decided to submit the film to a few festivals and see what happened. We did about 10 [festivals], making it into five and winning 3. We’re pretty happy with the results, so we’ll continue to submit Kinabuhi to festivals, and hopefully, the story continues to resonate with people.”
In winning these awards, Kapuluan joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of these internationally respected awards, including the Oscar-winning director Louie Psihoyos for his 2016 Best of Show – Racing Extinction, Oscar winner Yael Melamede for (Dis)Honesty – The Truth About Lies, Emmy Award winner Gerald Rafshoon for Endless Corridors narrated by Oscar winner Jeremy Irons, Liam Neeson as the narrator of Love Thy Nature, A Path Appears Documentary featuring George Clooney and Blake Lively, Radical Grace executive produced by Susan Sarandon, a searing expose Davids and Goliath by Leon Lee, and Touched with Fire starring Katie Holmes, and many more.
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