Petersen Vargas

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Petersen Vargas
Intervista a Petersen Vargas - 32deg Lovers Film Festival.jpg
Petersen Vargas in 2017
Born
Hil Petersen Miranda Vargas

(1992-08-02) August 2, 1992 (age 33) [1]
Pampanga, Philippines
Alma mater University of the Philippines
OccupationFilm director
Years active2015–present

Hil Petersen Miranda Vargas (born August 2, 1992) [1] is a Filipino filmmaker. He is best known for directing the Cinema One Originals Best Picture winner 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten (2016) and the web series Hello Stranger (2020). [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Hil Petersen Miranda Vargas was born on August 2, 1992 [1] and raised in Pampanga, Philippines. [3] Coming from a family of lawyers, he majored in political science at the University of the Philippines Diliman, but eventually switched to film after one year. [4] During his time in university, Vargas' work in short films had attracted buzz among his peers and local indie movie enthusiasts. [5] He graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines Film Institute in 2014. [6]

Career

Vargas first received notice with his short film Lisyun qng Geografia, which won the Best Direction award at the 11th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival in 2015. [7] The following year, at the age of 24, Vargas directed his debut feature 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten (2016), which was written by fellow Kampampagan filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana. [8] [9] The film starred Khalil Ramos, Ethan Salvador, and was the film debut of Jameson Blake. [10] The film premiered at the Cinema One Originals film festival, where it won Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting Actor (for Blake). [11]

In January 2019 Vargas was selected to be a part of the Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab (SEAFIC), a script and development lab for Southeast Asian filmmakers. [12] He would go on to win the lab's grand prize, the SEAFIC Award. [13] The prize will go towards the production of Vargas's second feature, a road movie tentatively titled Some Nights I Feel Like Walking, to be produced by Alemberg Ang and Jade Castro. [14] The film was also selected to be a part of the Locarno Film Festival's Open Doors Hub. [15] Later in the year, the Vargas-directed music video of Nadine Lustre's single St4y Up won Music Video of the Year at the Myx Music Awards 2019.

In 2020, Vargas directed the web series Hello Stranger , starring Tony Labrusca and JC Alcantara. [16] In the same year, Some Nights I Feel Like Walking was selected to be a part of the 16th edition of the Cinéfondation's Atelier, a program under the auspices of the Cannes Film Festival which aims to encourage a new generation of filmmakers. [17] [18] Vargas also directed the short film How to Die Young in Manila (2020), which was spun off from his yet to be released second feature. [19] [20] The film had its world premiere at the 25th Busan International Film Festival and was later screened at the Singapore International Film Festival. [21] [22]

Aside from his work directing films, Vargas has also directed music videos, commercials, and has been a creative producer for the movie production company T-Rex Entertainment. [23]

Filmography

Feature films

Table featuring feature films directed by Petersen Vargas
YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerRef.
2016 Sakaling Hindi Makarating NoYesNo [24]
2016 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten YesNoNo [25]
2018 Billie and Emma NoNoYes
2019 Open NoNoYes [26]
2021 Hello Stranger: The Movie NoNoYes [27]
2022 An Inconvenient Love YesNoNo [28]
2023 A Very Good Girl YesNoNo
2024 Un/Happy For You YesNoNo
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking YesYesNo [29]

Short films

Table featuring short films directed by Petersen Vargas
YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerRef.
20125 Ning GatpanapunYesYesYes [30]
2013Coup de GraceYesYesYes [31]
Ito Ang Huling ArawYesYesYes [32]
2014Lisyun qng GeografiaYesYesNo [33]
SwirlYesYesYes [34]
2016Teka Lang, Uwi Na TayoYesYesYes
2020How To Die Young in ManilaYesYesNo [35]

Digital series

Table featuring digital series directed by Petersen Vargas
YearTitleDirectorWriterRef.
2017Hanging OutYesYes [36]
2020 Hello Stranger YesNo [37]

Music videos

YearTitleArtistRef.
2015"Steady" BP Valenzuela
2017"What Went Wrong"Rusty Machines [38]
"Autumn"LONER
"The Life" James Reid [39]
2018"St4y Up" Nadine Lustre [40]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Films directed by Petersen Vargas". Letterboxd . Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  2. ↑ Casal, Chang (July 1, 2020). "Director Petersen Vargas wants to redefine BL for Filipinos". CNN Philippines . Archived from the original on July 17, 2020.
  3. ↑ "2018 Alumni". Asian Film Academy.
  4. ↑ Galeon, Dom (July 29, 2018). "Young Forever". Manila Bulletin .
  5. ↑ "The Spectacular Now". Scout Magazine. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Reel deals". The Philippine Star . March 3, 2016.
  7. ↑ Jaucian, Don (October 15, 2015). "The heart is a lonely hunter". The Philippine Star .
  8. ↑ Buenaventura, Marga (November 18, 2016). "Forget me not". The Philippine Star. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  9. ↑ Fernandez, Denise (November 14, 2016). "The Spectacular Now". Scout Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  10. ↑ Moran, Romeo (November 16, 2016). "These Kids Are Way Too Cool". Scout Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  11. ↑ "FULL LIST: Winners, Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2016". Rappler . November 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ Frater, Patrick (January 31, 2019). "'Third Wife' Director Ash Mayfair Joins SE Asia Fiction Film Lab". Variety .
  13. ↑ Shackleton, Liz (October 30, 2019). "Petersen Vargas' 'Some Nights I Feel Like Walking' wins SEAFIC Award". Screen Daily .
  14. ↑ Scott, Mathew (November 5, 2019). "Philippine Director Petersen Vargas' Next Feature Lands Southeast Asian Fiction Film Lab Prize". The Hollywood Reporter .
  15. ↑ "Local film project picked for Switzerland film co-production program". Manila Standard . June 3, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Our best Filipino queer shows of 2020". CNN Philippines . December 30, 2020. Archived from the original on December 30, 2020.
  17. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (March 9, 2020). "Cinéfondation's Atelier unveils 2020 selection". Screen Daily .
  18. ↑ "L'Atelier 2021". Cannes Film Festival. June 30, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
  19. ↑ Asilo, Rito (December 18, 2020). "Thematic pertinence, technical skill merge in Singapore film fest's PH entries". The Philippine Daily Inquirer .
  20. ↑ Galang, Jelou. "Queer identity and politics take place in 'How to Die Young in Manila'". SCOUT Magazine. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  21. ↑ "How To Die Young in Manila". Singapore International Film Festival. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  22. ↑ "How To Die Young in Manila". Busan International Film Festival. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  23. ↑ "Young Filipino creative professionals gather together on October 12 for this year's SCOUT Creative Talk". Philippine Daily Inquirer. October 11, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Berlinale Talents Project - Sakaling Hindi Makarating". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
  25. ↑ "Berlinale Talents Project - 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  26. ↑ "ABS-CBN Films, T-REX Entertainment ink co-production agreement". CinemaBravo. October 23, 2018. Retrieved August 26, 2021.
  27. ↑ Emocling, Oliver (February 10, 2021). "Lessons on storytelling from "Hello Stranger: The Movie" director Dwein Baltazar". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  28. ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: First Movie Still for 'An Inconvenient Love' released". Star Cinema. August 26, 2022. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  29. ↑ "Some Nights I Feel Like Walking". Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  30. ↑ Flora, Ian (June 15, 2013). "Kapampangan films nominated in 'Gawad Urian'". SunStar . Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  31. ↑ Flora, Ian (February 10, 2014). "9 Pampango films to be featured in Cagayan de Oro film festival". SunStar. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  32. ↑ Salita, Bryan (June 26, 2019). "5 Pinoy shorts to binge for Pride Month". Rappler. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  33. ↑ Amarille, Bea (October 2, 2019). "Designer Carl Jan Cruz, director Petersen Vargan, and more artists will lead this year's Scout Creative Talks". Noli Soli. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  34. ↑ "Petersen Vargas - Scout Magazine". Scout Magazine. September 7, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  35. ↑ "Berlinale Talents Project - How to Die Young in Manila". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  36. ↑ "Rappler Talk Entertainment: BL and queer media with 'Hanging Out' star Jox Gonzales and director Petersen Vargas". Rappler . April 30, 2020.
  37. ↑ "Berlinale Talents Project - Hello Stranger". Berlinale Talents. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  38. ↑ "Watch Rusty Machines' 'What Went Wrong' Video, But Not If You're Queasy". Billboard . July 19, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  39. ↑ "James Reid and Nadine Lustre live it up in The Life – watch". Bandwagon Asia. December 17, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  40. ↑ "WATCH: Nadine Lustre's new 'St4y Up' music video". Rappler . January 26, 2018.