Petersen Vargas is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

filmmaker. He is best known for directing the

Cinema One Originals The Cinema One Originals Film Festival, a division of ABS-CBN Films commonly known as Cinema One Originals, is an independent film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of November in Quezon City. Its primary goal is to showcase ...

Best Picture winner ''

2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten ''2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' is a 2016 Filipino coming-of-age drama film directed by Petersen Vargas in his feature-length directorial debut and written by Jason Paul Laxamana. The film stars Khalil Ramos, Ethan Salvador and Jameson Blake. It depicts ...

'' (2016) and the web series ''

Hello Stranger "Hello Stranger" is a 1963 hit single by Barbara Lewis, which spent two weeks at number one on the R&B singles chart in '' Billboard'', crossing over to #3 on the pop chart. Original version "Hello Stranger" was written by Barbara Lewis herself ...

'' (2020).

Early life and education

Vargas was born and raised in

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Coming from a family of lawyers, he majored in Political Science at the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

, but eventually switched to film after one year. As a student in university Vargas's work in short films had attracted buzz among his peers and local indie movie enthusiasts. He graduated cum laude from the

University of the Philippines Film Institute The University of the Philippines Film Institute, also known as the UP Film Institute or UPFI, is a film school located in Quezon City, Philippines. It is attached to the UP College of Mass Communication and engages in theater and extension serv ...

in 2014.

Career

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. The following year, at the age of 24, Vargas directed his debut feature ''

'' (2016), which was written by fellow Kampampagan filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana. The film starred

Khalil Ramos Khalil Joseph Nepomuceno Ramos (; born January 22, 1996) is a Filipino actor and singer. In July 2011, Ramos won second place on ''Pilipinas Got Talent'', a reality talent show in ABS-CBN and became a recording artist under Star Magic. In 201 ...

, Ethan Salvador, and was the film debut of

Jameson Blake Jameson Andrew Blake (born June 17, 1997) is a Filipino American actor, dancer, and model based in the Philippines. He is best known for his roles in the films ''2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten'' (2016), '' So Connected'' (2018), and ''Ang Babaeng Allergic s ...

. The film premiered at the

film festival, where it won Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting Actor (for Blake). 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. He would go on to win the lab's grand prize, the SEAFIC Award. 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 Jade Francis Castro (born August 21, 1978) is a Filipino film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for writing and directing ''Endo'' (2007), and '' Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington'' (2011). Early and personal li ...

. The film was also selected to be a part of the Locarno Film Festival's Open Doors Hub. Later in the year, the Vargas-directed music video of

Nadine Lustre Nadine Alexis Paguia Lustre (, ; born October 31, 1993) is a Filipino actress and singer. She rose to fame after playing the lead role of Eya Rodriguez in the film '' Diary ng Panget'' (2014). Lustre has since starred in the television serie ...

's single St4y Up won Music Video of the Year at the

Myx Music Awards 2019 Myx Music Awards 2019 was the 14th installment of the Myx Music Awards, acknowledging the biggest hit makers of 2018 in the Philippine music industry. For the eight consecutive year, fans could vote online through the Myx website. Nominees were ...

. In 2020, Vargas directed the

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

'', starring

Tony Labrusca Anthony Angel Labrusca Jr. (; born August 7, 1995), professionally known as Tony Labrusca, is an American actor, model, and singer based in the Philippines. Labrusca first gained his popularity via a McDonald's Philippines TV ad in 2016, ''Tul ...

and JC Alcantara. In the same year, ''Some Nights I Feel Like Walking'' was selected to be a part of the 16th edition of the

Cinéfondation La ''Cinéfondation'' is a foundation under the aegis of the Cannes Film Festival, created to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers. It was created in 1998 by Gilles Jacob. Since then it has developed complementary ...

's Atelier, a program under the auspices of the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

which aims to encourage a new generation of filmmakers. 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. The film had its world premiere at the 25th Busan International Film Festival and was later screened at the

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) ( Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform fo ...

. 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.

Filmography

Feature films

Short films

Digital series

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Petersen Living people Filipino film directors Filipino television directors ABS-CBN people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Pampanga University of the Philippines alumni Artists from Pampanga