Diliman Video of the Week: Karsel (Prison)

35mm film thesis of Rianne Hill Soriano at the University of the Philippines Film Institute. Kodak Film Award 2003. Best Production Thesis 2003. Nominee for Gawad Urian Best Short Film 2004.

Noticeably, the sound is so mono... :D this film was done the real old school way... literal sweat and blood in the classic Moviola of LVN... i remember how my hands got wounded with the positive prints and the chemicals of the film... More than 6000 feet of films to edit! Plus some electric shocks while editing during the wee hours of the dawn... sleepless nights and days... ghosts lingering around the editing room... hehe! good old days...

- Best Production Thesis 2003
- 17th Gawad Urian Nominee for Best Short Film
- TAU International Film Festival 2004 (Tel Aviv, Israel)
- Cinevita Film Festival 2008
- Eksperimento Film Festival 2004
- Finalist - 1st Indeo Film and Video Festival 2004
- UP Diliman Film and Video Festival 2004
- Pelikula at Lipunan Film Festival 2004
- Celebrating Women - Women's Week Film Fest 2004
- Featured film at the Feminine Force Group Woman's Month 2007
- Illuminations: Awarded Student Films of the UP Cinema Arts Society
- Finalist - International Women's Film Festival 2006
- University of Makati Film Society Movietrip 2007
- aired at UniversiTV: 2007 to present
"Karsel" ("Prison") is a 20-minute film that delves into a young adult female's submission to the conventions of a traditional home and her struggle for her liberation.

The overprotected Angela has been kept inside a grand and yet constricting mansion since childhood. Her "obsessive-compulsive mother" takes care of her long hair yielding to the family tradition that a woman should always grow her hair long. But the irony lies on the fact that she pulls her daughter's hair real hard everytime she gets mad at her.

With Angela's mother being extremely, unreasonably strict to her only daughter, Angela has been kept inside their "grand and yet small house" for all the years of her life. The only way for her to socialize is through school. In one instance that she comes home by sunset after going out with her classmates for a rushed school work, her mother punishes her. She goes to her room, cries, and rationalizes her situation. And as Angela's 18th birthday draws nearer, her hair becoming bars of cage on her face exemplifies her imprisonment.

Additional details about the film can also be viewed at IMDB.com and www.riannehillsoriano.com/karsel.html.

The Cast
Angela Salientes - Summer Sumera
Sonia Salientes - Gigi Pirote
Aling Belay - Ermie Concepcion
Child Angela - Chum-Chum Aquino
Ildefonso - Dingdong Rosales
Elira - Pam Sto. Domingo
Betsy - Roma Regala
Maida - Suzette Navarette
Ancestral mother - Ellen Estrada
Ancestral daughter- Bekah Mata
Ferdi - Rico del Rosario
Michael - Pao Pangan
Mang Caloy - Mang Fred

The Production Team
Screenplay and Direction - Rianne Hill Soriano
Directors of Photography - Eli Balce and Riane Hill Soriano
Production Designer - Chrisel Galeno
1st Asst. Director - Joy Puntawe
2nd Asst. Director - Herbert Navasca
Film Editor - Rianne Hill Soriano
Musical Scorer - Kiko Ortega
Audio Engineers - Jason Galindez and Noel Bruan
Production Managers - Rianne Hill Soriano, Kiel Sandico, Madz Mandia, Joselle Acuña, and Janice Atencio