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]

Petersen Vargas
Petersen Vargas in 2017
Born
Hil Petersen Miranda Vargas

(1992-08-02) August 2, 1992 (age 32)[1]
Pampanga, Philippines
Alma materUniversity of the Philippines
OccupationFilm director
Years active2015–present

Early life and education

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Vargas was born 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] As a student in university Vargas's 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

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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

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Feature films

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Table featuring feature films directed by Petersen Vargas
Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref.
2016 Sakaling Hindi Makarating No Yes No [24]
2016 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten Yes No No [25]
2018 Billie and Emma No No Yes
2019 Open No No Yes [26]
2021 Hello Stranger: The Movie No No Yes [27]
2022 An Inconvenient Love Yes No No [28]
2023 A Very Good Girl Yes No No
2024 Un/Happy For You Yes No No
Some Nights I Feel Like Walking Yes Yes No [29]

Short films

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Table featuring short films directed by Petersen Vargas
Year Title Director Writer Producer Ref.
2012 5 Ning Gatpanapun Yes Yes Yes [30]
2013 Coup de Grace Yes Yes Yes [31]
Ito Ang Huling Araw Yes Yes Yes [32]
2014 Lisyun qng Geografia Yes Yes No [33]
Swirl Yes Yes Yes [34]
2016 Teka Lang, Uwi Na Tayo Yes Yes Yes
2020 How To Die Young in Manila Yes Yes No [35]

Digital series

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Table featuring digital series directed by Petersen Vargas
Year Title Director Writer Ref.
2017 Hanging Out Yes Yes [36]
2020 Hello Stranger Yes No [37]

Music videos

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Year Title Artist Ref.
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

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  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "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 October 16, 2017. 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. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  29. ^ "Some Nights I Feel Like Walking". Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab. 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. 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.
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