Dayo, Second Most Awarded Film in 2008 MMFF

Dayo, Second Most Awarded Film in 2008 MMFF
December 29, 2008 | Posted by Karla Maquiling

The first Pinoy digital full-length animated feature Dayo sa Mundo ng Elementalia won in four categories in the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival. The Cutting Edge Productions feature was cited for Best Visual Effects (Robert Quilao), Best Sound (Whannie Dellosa and Mike Idioma), Best Musical Score (Jessie Lasaten), which was recorded with the FILharmoniKA conducted by Gerard Salonga, and Best Theme Song ("Lipad" by Jessie Lasaten and Temi Abad, Jr., performed by Lea Salonga with the FILharmonika).

"We are so thankful for these technical awards because they have validated our vision for Dayo. These awards pay tribute to all the Filipino artists, specifically our animators who have worked on the film," said executive producer Lasaten.

The movie, which took two years to complete and cost more than $1.3 million, involved more than 500 Pinoy animators from all over the country. Tagged as a must-watch feature this holiday,Dayo follows the story of an 11-year-old boy named Bubuy who journeys into the magical world of Elementalia to save his grandparents. On his quest he meets all sorts of fantasy characters from Pinoy mythology, among them a vegetarian manananggal, a rocking tikbalang, and a sage who gives him helpful advice.

Dayo brings together a noteworthy cast to brings its animated characters to life, among them Nash Aguas and Katrina Legaspi as Bubuy and the manannggal Anna, Pokwang, Michael V, Noel Trinidad, Nova Villa, Johnny Delgado, Peque Gallaga, Laurice Guillen, Gabe Mercado, Pocholo Gonzales, and Moymoy Palaboy and Roadfill.

The film's official soundtrack, released by Sony BMG, is also an ensemble of some of the best Pinoy musical talents, with international Broadway star Lea Salonga performing the theme song "Lipad," Gerard Salonga and the FILharmoniKA orchestra doing the score, and Joey Ayala's ethnic sound mixed with the film orchestral score.

The film, which is a hybrid of 2-D and 3-D animation and powered by Toon Boom using Macintosh and Linux platforms, uses Dolby 7.1 surround sound. In addition, this is also the first time that a Pinoy film has worked with Technicolor for its post-production.

Dayo opened on Christmas Day and is still running in theaters all over the country. The film has received a grade A rating from the Cinema Evaluation Board, a citation only given to features that are well crafted, and which means Dayo gets a 100 percent amusement tax rebate. The GP-rated film has also gotten the approval of the Department of Education.

http://pinoycentric.com/2008/12/29/d...mff/#more-2730