Lester Cristal

BIOGRAPHIE

Lester Cristal is a Filipino director, writer, and producer working across narrative live-action, music videos, web series, and online video content. He triumphs the stories of diversity and inclusion that transcend cultural minorities' voices. His filmography includes PLUS.MINUS. which is told in reverse chronological order that tells the story of an aspiring drag queen and his lover who doesn't belong and doesn't particularly want to belong, and yet are inevitably sad and not belonging-was nominated for the 2020 Best Short Film in the Philippine's oldest award-giving body for cinema, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS Awards). TONIGHT! is a music video he produced for the up-and-coming Filipino music artist RURU as she navigates a lonesome Filipino commute. It has its world premiere at the 2019 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. His recent short film, IN THE CLOSET (Kloseta), which bagged awards on Gawad Sining 2020 by the University of the Philippines, is about two queer people who are on a quest for friendship and acceptance. SOLE (Swelas) was his first short film, about a shoemaker struggling amid a failing business and an innovating industry-a love letter to his father, and the Filipino artisans–set his journey to local film festivals. He studied Digital Filmmaking at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and completed his internship at TBA Studio, one of the leading film production and distribution companies in the Philippines, and at Cinemalaya Foundation Inc., which organizes the country's most prestigious independent film event each year.

FILMOGRAPHIE