Sunday, August 19, 2007 Seymour Barros Sanchez's ‘Bodong’ competes in 3rd Moonrise Filmfest
"BODONG (Peace Pact)," a new documentary from advocacy filmmaker Seymour Barros Sanchez, competes at the third Moonrise Film Festival, which started last Wednesday and ends on Tuesday at the Robinson's Galleria Movieworld.
"Bodong," co-produced by Red Room Productions and Pixel Art Media Production Company, is about the traditional peace pact entered into by warring tribes in the Kalinga. This documentary seeks to encourage Cordillera people to forge a "bodong" to fight destructive mining and intensified militarization in the region.
Sanchez's documentary comes at a time when representatives from the militant bloc in Congress led by Bayan Muna party-list Representative Teodoro Casiño challenge the House committee on natural resources chaired by the presidential brother-in-law Representative Ignacio Arroyo of Negros Occidental to take up House Bill (HB) 1793 that seeks to repeal the Mining Act of 1995 (Republic Act 7942), which critics claim as "the most environmentally-hazardous law of the land."
The Moonrise Filmfest, a showcase of films on Philippine environment and culture, is presented by the Center for Environmental Awareness and Education (CEAE) in cooperation with the Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants. The competition is launched not only to increase environmental awareness and to promote critical thinking but also to expose the growing number of Filipino talents in documentary filmmaking.
During the week-long event, the finest environmental and cultural documentaries from all over the Philippines are screened to thousands of teachers, students, religious, corporate, government and non-government officials. The documentary festival is a valuable reminder of the power of media to boost awareness on environmental and socio-cultural issues about the Philippines.
"Bodong" is scheduled to be shown along with fellow Moonrise Filmfest finalists "Aramiden: A Glimpse of the City of Pines" by Diane Elizabeth Sipin and "Syokoy" by Ray Defante Gibraltar on August 16, 6 p.m., August 17, 2 p.m., August 18, 2 p.m., August 19, 4 p.m., and August 20, 2 p.m.
Sanchez previously directed "Lababo" (Kitchen Sink Drama), the anti-US armed intervention in the Philippines short film which won the grand prize in the first Viva – Pinoy Box Office (PBO) Digitales last year. The short film went on to represent the Philippines at the 48th International Festival of Documentary and Short Film of Bilbao, Spain for the first time in more than 50 years and also competed at the 8th International Panorama of Independent Film and Video in Athens, Greece. It was also shown at the Jakarta Slingshortfest (Internal Affairs Program) in Indonesia and the 8th Cinemanila International Film Festival.
Sanchez was also part of the "Guimaras: Short Films on the Oil Spill" project organized by ABC 5 and the Philippine Independent Filmmakers Multi-Purpose Cooperative with his documentary "Pagbugtaw (Waking Up)." He recently served as the competition officer of "Dokyu: Ang Bagong Mata ng Pinoy Documentaries" student documentary competition. (Press release)
