THEY'RE no professionals. They’re short on budget. And they had to make use of only one video camera for the production of an entry to a national video-documentary making contest.
But last Oct. 11, their work was awarded as the best student produced documentary during the first ever DocU: The I-Witness Student Docu-Making Contest held in the Gateway Mall Cinema, Araneta Center, Quezon City, Metro Manila.
Batang Tambol (Drummer Boy) is the winning entry of five fourth-year mass communication students from the University of San Jose-Recoletos. The group is composed of Blaine Uy as director, writer and cameraman, Eunice Grace Cañeda for the film narrator and host, Fe Marie Dumaboc and John Earl Coronado taking care of research and Athena Cabañero as their consultant.
The film “stood out among the 120 entries” from all over the country according to a statement by Nessa Valdellon, Program Manager, I-Witness, GMA-7.
Batang revolves around the life of Jason, a boy who with the use of his makeshift drums from PVC pipes, entertains commuters with modern hits like Low by Flo-Rida and Don’t Matter by Akon. As later revealed in the story, Jason is part of a huge Badjao community here in Cebu.
“It’s a weird feeling. You somehow feel proud of yourself, but then during the awarding, I felt really cold seeing students from different schools. And it was just then and there that I realized that we actually won big. I was overwhelmed,” shares Blaine about the awards night.
This was how the film concept came to be.
Long before the announcement for the contest, Blaine would notice the boys busy at an intersection while he was on his way for on-the-job training. Days passed, the contest was announced and Blaine forgot about the kids.
“When the contest was announced, we went to places like Carbon Market and the Cathedral to look for potential subjects for the film. But somehow we weren’t contented,” says Blaine.
Then out of the blue, Earl remembered Blaine telling him about the drummer boys. They knew now what they wanted and aimed for it. “On that day we shot right away,” explains Earl.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. Citing the lack of funds and miscommunication among members, the group was in the verge of abandoning the project. At this point, the probability of winning left them and became a distant possibility. But they received something more in return for pressing on.
“We promised ourselves that before Christmas, we will go back there (Badjao community) and give a little something for Jason and his family,” shares Eunice.
Their gratitude goes to the Administration of USJ-R led by university president Fr. Anthony Morillo, OAR, Dr. Teoddie Dumam-ag, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Geraldine Popoy, their adviser.
Any future plans for documentaries?
The group responds in laughter. “For now, we have to concentrate in school. We’re graduating next semester!”
The group ends the interview with proof that they are first students before filmmakers.
