From Nov. 16 to 20, the Guam International Film Festival was held at the newly opened Guam Museum in Haganta. Through the five day event, there were a multitude of films ranging from local narratives to short documentaries from Pakistan.

Guam International Film Festival has been a go to event on Guam for aspiring filmmakers for multiple years. With it growing every year, it’s becoming larger and more films from not only Guam, but from other regions as well.

The event coordinator, Ruzelle Amparo, was excited for the films featured this year. This is the first year that we actually have a permanent location that we can now call our home,” Amparo said.

The Guam Museum recently opened this October, targeting towards mainly tourists.

“With the film festival growing every year, I’m happy to say that we are no longer only Guam films but more international films,” Amparo said. There are films from France and Pakistan, among other countries.

The volunteer manager, CJ Ochoco, has been working with Amparo this year by guiding the volunteers in their selected roles. “We had so many volunteers this year that we even had to have some not come in, unfortunately” Ochoco said.

“We did not expected to get all these volunteers so it’s a surprise for all of us. We even got help from high school students so it allowed more people to take less shifts” Ochoco said. There were almost 30 volunteers in total.

Krystal Calvo, one of the volunteers who was at the event for three days, had her two cents about the event.

“I liked the event overall, but I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t get to see any of the films” Calvo said. “I just wish that there was a concession stand there because people wanted some food to go along with the movies.”

Even though the event was a success to Calvo, she still had some stuff on her mind about the event.

“There was a smell that was in the lobby of the museum the whole time,” Calvo said. “It was the fumes after they waxed the floors.”

While the Guam Museum is considered opened, there’s still construction and maintenance happening around.

On the final day, there was an award ceremony held for the best films that were shown. While it wasn’t a complete award ceremony for all the categories, it was for films that were the most prestigious during the festival.

There were also light refreshments such as coffee and tea offered by PROA for the final day.

“Mah-e-Mir” won Best Narrative Film Award, one of the best international films that was showcased. The kids from “Kids From Chuuk” were also in attendance and they also performed throughout the award ceremony.

There were two local films, “Group” and “A Twist of Yarn” that won “Best in the Micronesia” and “Best Narrative” respectively. Both of these films were made and produced by University of Guam students.

With every year, GIFF has been developing and with every year, GIFF has been growing larger with international films. Amparo already has plans for the next film festival.

Expect another Guam International Film Festival around this time next year. For any further information, please go to their website at http://www.guamfilmfestival.org/.

CJ Ochoco- 1671-4895622

Ruzelle Amparo – 1671-7876470

Krissayyy Calvo – 1671-7472077