The short film from the 23-year-old Villanueva is a religious satire depicting a graven image of a patron saint called Saint Nena who comes to life every night.

The film boasts of adroit camerawork and editing, and an ability to hook you from start to finish.

A short film depicting a Catholic patron saint having sex with a teenage boy wins the Gold award (equivalent to Best Picture) at the recently held Viddsee Juree Awards on 29 September 2019, at the Pineapple Lab in Poblacion, Makati.

Tim Rone Villanueva’s short Saint Nena!, a mish-mash of perversion and religious dogma and tradition, bested 10 short films from Filipino filmmakers who submitted their films to Viddsee.com, an online platform that curates short films from Southeast Asia.

But before it nabbed the Viddsee Juree Gold award, Saint Nena! has already earned local and international awards and accolades, including from California, India and Iraq filmfests.

Viddsee jury member Anderson Le described Saint Nena! as such before announcing it on stage as the Gold winner:

“This socio-religious satire hit us with the power of a freight train controlled by John Waters. With a kaleidoscopic and very biting point of view, this gold-winning film hits all the right marks in spoofing telenovelas and religiosity with the hormone-fueled zaniness of teen sex comedies to paint a hilarious, at times cringe-worthy, provocative take on cultural constraints.”

The short film from the 23-year-old Villanueva is a religious satire depicting a graven image of a patron saint called Saint Nena (played by Elora Españo) who comes to life every night. Severely bored of her inanimate state, she desires to become “human” again.

Her wish comes true when God calls her via an iPhone and tells her that she was chosen to bear the child of the Second Messiah with a human male. Soon she meets the young, horny, and heart-broken Manuel, who owns a pair of glowing testicles, and asks him to have sex with her. And so they do the deed.

It’s no surprise that Villanueva’s comedy has offended some Christian and Catholic viewers. Scenes of sex, masturbation, miracles, idolatry and worship are meshed together in a fast-paced, well-acted, technically polished and lively 20-minute running time.

I am not Catholic (but I used to be), and although I laughed just one time when Saint Nena complained that she’s tired of being “groped” (it is Catholic tradition to touch graven images for healing or miracles), I found the humor generally distasteful. Especially the dirty-mouthed angel—the character is too self-aware and wants obvious attention and shock value for his R-rated language.

Still, one can see Villanueva’s mastery of the craft. The film boasts of adroit camerawork and editing, and an ability to hook you from start to finish. And it’s fascinating, as it comes from a filmmaker with a devout Catholic background.

Satire, as defined by the dictionary, is “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices.” In the film’s religious Catholic milieu, sin does not seem to exist. Villanueva does the complete opposite of moral values by depicting immorality through the use of religious icons; the scenes permeated with alcoholism, pre-marital sex and littered with cuss words.

Villanueva’s satirical short echoes what he may believe to be Catholic hypocrisy. The film also suggests that religiosity can never transcend one’s worldly desires and that Catholic traditions are mere folklore, with saints existing merely as wish-granting, miracle-concocting fairy godmothers to their devotees.

“SAINT Nena!” is inspired by the devotion of Tim Rone’s family to Mary Magdalene.

I asked Villanueva several questions about his short film, and the young director was more than happy to give a lengthy response to my curiosities.

He shared that Saint Nena! is his first short feature and his thesis project. It was inspired by his family’s devotion to their patron saint, Mary Magdalene, in their hometown of Kawit, Cavite.

“I wanted to tell a story that is unconventional and personal, something related to God and close to my origin,” Villanueva said. “There are stories about our patron saint statue coming to life and that she used to roam our town. According to some witnesses, she had long black hair, a red gown, a beautiful face, and was helping the townspeople. I experimented with different concepts about her. What if she is still roaming our town at the present? What if she falls in love with a Kawiteño and bears a child? The rest was history.”

According to Villanueva, “Nena” is the given nickname to the Mary Magdalene of Kawiteños, but he said that the Saint Nena in his film is not Magdalene.

“I decided not to use the image of Mary Magdalene to avoid confusion, misrepresentation, and sacrilege. I just took inspiration from the images and native legends about her,” the filmmaker said.

True enough, these tales and legends surrounding the young Villanueva inspired his playful, imaginative and artistic side.

“As I developed the character of Santa Nena, I put myself in her shoes and imagined what life is like for a patron saint statue made of wood—not moving and just hearing people’s prayers, agony, and needs,” Villanueva shared. “What if she wants to retire? What if she is now in a situation that needs to ask a favor from the people?” he added.

“Let us remember that she was a human, too, before she was canonized by the Catholic Church. As a human, she has weaknesses, too, and personal desires that need to be fulfilled. I challenged the boundaries of the relationship between a saint and her followers. Exchanging their positions like Aladdin granting Genie’s wish. How does it work? Maybe it may lead to chaos,” Villanueva said.

DIRECTOR Tim Villanueva (middle) receiving his Gold award with Ho Jia Jian (left) Viddee CEO and co-founder and Anderson Le (right) artistic director for Hawaii International Film Festival.

Saint Nena! received mixed views from netizens who watched the film for free on Viddsee.com.

A viewer named Dave Thomas commented on the short: “Di ko kayang tapusin ang palabas… sobrang nakakabastos sa Imahen ng santo at sa Ngalan ng Panginoon… even words na mga ginagamit ay nakakabastos…San ka nakakita ng Saint at Angel na nagmumura…hayyy… this film is not good… sorry.”

Another commenter named Lester Jan Mallorca said, “Hala ka, ano ginawa mo sa rebulto, lagot ka sa mga Catholics niyan…”

A Ron Osbual made a hurt comment: “THIS FILM IS DISHONORING GOD. I thought this film is about repentance and teaching to be pure, but I was wrong. It promotes sexual immorality and the worst thing is this film has polluted the holiness image of saints by showing saint is having sex to somebody and in this film the lord commanded that.”

Commenter Karlwinn Paitan defended the film: “What I love about this film is it is very satirical, a satire-comedy. Matalino ang pagkakagawa. The more that you are affected, the more that you are guilty. At biglang nagsilabasan ang mga nagbabanal-banalan. Guyz, this is the “what if” of life. Chill.”

Buknoi Boi was entertained: “Ewan ko lang pero sobra ako natawa hahaha.”

One angry commenter, Camille Caoli, questioned the fimmaker’s motive for doing the short film, asking if he’s doing it for fame or money at the expense of offending Catholics. To which a Timothy Claudio responded in defense: “Pikon na pikon te? In the first place hindi mo pinanood or attempt to watch.”

Villanueva told me that he’s open to criticisms.

“I am very welcoming to any kind of response from the audience who has seen my film, either positive or negative. I respect their feedback about it. I just hope that they view it with a deeper understanding, to decode metaphors, ironies and allegories,” he said.

“I created my film to express chaos because of human desires surrounding our religion. It is more than a comedy; it challenges Catholic ideologies and pushes the limits of Filipino religious constraints.”

As the Viddsee Gold winner, Villanueva was awarded a film production grant worth P160,000 and a five-day Global Film & TV Program in Los Angeles sponsored by the Motion Picture Association.

In addition to the grant, he received a 14-day loan for RED Digital Cinema camera equipment with a five-lens set of ZEISS CP.3 Lenses, and a 14-day loan for a Sachtler tripod system and Litepanels LED products from Vitec.

I asked Villanueva about his reaction when they announced Saint Nena! as the Gold winner.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to become a Gold Winner because all the films in competition are diverse and have great quality,” said Villanueva. “I was in shock. Going up the stage and thanking everybody… it was an awkward, overwhelming and teary-eyed moment for me. It was unforgettable.”

Meanwhile, the Viddsee Juree Silver winner (the second-best short film) went to If Not (Kun ‘Di Man), by 28-year-old Phyllis Grae Grande. It’s a tale of love inspired by blind couples singing in MRT stations. It bagged the Audience Choice Award at the 2017 QCinema Film Festival, and the Best Short Film at the FACINE film festival in 2018.

The Juree international panel of judges comprised of Anderson Le, the Artistic Director for the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF); Baby Ruth Villarama, established Filipino producer and film director; and Lucky Kuswandi, a rising Indonesian filmmaker.