A senior nursing student from the University of St. La Salle–Bacolod has marked her third consecutive year of competition at the Sine Negrense: The Negros Island Film Festival.
Chelsea Tasic first entered Sine Negrense in 2023 with Dalit sa Sala, a socially grounded film produced by Dulaab Productions that followed an ambitious two-day shoot aboard a moving bus.
The film earned eight nominations that year and won both the People’s Choice Award and a special citation for narrative strength.
In 2024, Tasic was selected as one of ten directors for the inaugural Bacolod Film Festival, where her short film A Flower A Day competed in the Sine Negrense Open Category.
Set inside a rundown café, the film followed a young woman who arrives daily with a different flower, gradually intriguing a local barista.
A Flower A Day received eight nominations and won Best Musical Score at the Bacolod Film Festival in 2024.
Tasic returned to Sine Negrense in 2025 with Isa ka Higayon, which competed in the Intercollegiate Category and explored themes of closure and the afterlife through a distinctly Bacolodnon lens.
The story centers on Lola Sonia, a downtown Bacolod seamstress preparing for what she believes is her chance to make peace with a lost loved one, only to confront doubts about whether closure truly brings freedom.
Isa ka Higayon was recently screened at the Dinagyang edition of CineKasimanwa: The Western Visayas Film Festival at the FDCP Cinematheque Centre Iloilo.
Tasic said filmmaking serves as a vessel for raw and genuine human experiences rather than merely a creative pursuit.
Her filmmaking journey began in senior high school at the University of Negros Occidental–Recoletos, where she directed the award-winning shorts Piyesa in 2021 and Litrato in 2022.
She said her continued participation in regional festivals reflects the importance of returning to one’s roots and telling stories grounded in the realities of life in Negros.*