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MANILA, Philippines -- Ten films, 100 minutes: What better way to celebrate a milestone marking a century of presence in the Philippines than by capturing moments in a people’s collective life on film?

Nestlé Philippines could have done the usual de riguer, holding centennial parties, staging a concert, etc. as the food company famous the world over for its 6,000 brands went a step forward by producing no less than 10 short films of 10 minutes each.

The films, unveiled in a series of previews and premieres in various venues recently, capture the Filipino experience amidst the values embodied by each of Nestlé’s pillar brands.

Directed by nine directors who have earlier megged TV commercials for Nestlé, the films tackle various themes that recur in everyday Filipino life. There’s love of country (“Silup” by Jun Reyes), love of family (“The Howl and the Fussyket” by Chris Martinez), love of self and bouncing back from tragedy (“Downtown” by Stephen Ngo), etc.

Filipino experience: Nestlé has not only captured the Filipino experience through film. It has also preserved its own legacy through the language of today’s most potent, most encompassing medium of communication.

According to Sandra Puno, Nestlé communications director, the films are bound for screening in a special competitive section in Cannes in the near future. Meanwhile, they have been doing the rounds of free screenings and invitationals locally. A commercial exhibition in theaters nationwide is scheduled in August.

A school tour can later form part of the agenda, the better for Nestlé to enlarge, widen its 100th year celebration. Free screenings of the 10 films can also be arranged in public town plazas nationwide to create greater goodwill for the brand.

Kasambuhay Habambuhay: We attended a premiere of “Kasambuhay, Habambuhay Short Film Anthology” at Rockwell Cinema on June 10 and found the films quite acceptable as they are generally entertaining, given to a lot of funny moments and witticism on one hand, and a sense of meaning or purpose on the other.

Pinoy humor is all over “The Howl and The FussyKet” and “Cooking Mo, Cooking Ko,” both by Chris Martinez, and “Isang Tasang Pangarap” (Sid Maderazo).

The films “Unplugged” (Raul Jorolan), “Sali-Salita” (A/F Benaza) reflect popular signs of the times, of youths too engrossed with being wired and parents too busy to keep their careers.

Most touching is “Tingala sa Baba” (Henry Frejas), where the theme, friendship is more valuable than money, comes to fore. It is the short story of two young boys, one rich, the other poor, drawn together by a see-saw at the playground of a high-end school.

All 10 films are generally well crafted and paced properly. Their directors succeed in telling their stories skillfully within a limited period. Such is no mean feat for a regular filmmaker who has at least 90 minutes or more to tell his tale.

But then, these films are produced by “commercial” directors, who are used to telling their stories and transmitting advertising messages within the shortest time of from 30 to 60 seconds only. If these films were pieces of literature, we could probably say they’re of the fast-food fiction variety. Paspasang kwento.

They’re short, but they’re whole. They’re not bad, not bad at all.

(nescuar@yahoo.com)