NAGA CITY?The digital animated film ?Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia? (?Wanderer: In the World of Elementalia)? is going places.

After a successful run at the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival in December last year, ?Dayo??a project of local outfit Cutting Edge Productions and whose drawings were done mostly at the CamSur Animation Studio?is New York-bound.

Director Robert Quilao broke the news last week at the film?s premiere in Naga. He said that an organizer of Indio Bravo, an animation film festival in New York with a ?culture of peace theme,? has invited him to showcase ?Dayo.?

More invitations

He proudly accepted the invitation, Quilao said, ?to show to the world what Pinoys can do.?

He added that ?Dayo? has also been invited to international animation festivals in Indonesia, South Korea, Cairo, Tehran and France.

?The film is an achievement not only for CamSur but for the entire nation,? Quilao pointed out, ?because with its quality, we were able to finish it in one year and one month. It?s a breakthrough by international standards since animated films are usually made for two to three years.?

Produced with a budget of $1.3 million, ?Dayo? won for Best Visual Effects, Sound Recording, Theme Song and Musical Score at the 34th MMFF awards. It also earned an ?A? grade from the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB).

The production employed local artists from Camarines Sur for the ?in between? (drawing sequences) and ?cleanup? (final look of drawing) process of animation.

The 90-minute full-length feature, which explores the unlikely friendship between two mythical creatures from Philippine folklore, tapped the voice talents of child stars Nash Aguas as Bubuy and Katrina ?Hopia? Legaspi as Anna Manananggal.

Environmental angle

Other stars who lent their voices to the production included Michael V as Narsi (a groovy tikbalang).

With a nod to environmentalism, the story revolves around the rescue of Bubuy?s grandparents who were taken prisoners in the world of Elementalia beneath the earth because the boy unwittingly ?hurt? a tree one night, on the instigation of bullies hounding him in school.

Quilao was glad his team was able to tap good talents who breathed life into the characters of the animated film.

He cited Michael V, who reportedly improvised on his dialogues with doses of humor.

Aguas and Legaspi, who attended the ?Dayo? premiere in Naga, said they enjoyed portraying their roles after studying the script and being taught how to put the right voice and emotion to the animated action.

Executive producer and musical scorer Jessie Lasaten said it cost much to produce ?Dayo? because of the manpower and technical requirements. For practical financial reasons, the production allowed exposure of corporate sponsors? products in a few scenes.

These considerations helped foot the bill of the first paperless, fully digital film made by Filipinos in their own country.

Its musical score was performed by FILharmoniKA with conductor Gerard Salonga; his sister, world-renowned musical theater artist Lea, sang the theme song, ?Lipad.?