In preparation for the upcoming May 12, 2025 Philippine elections, the Holy Cross of Davao College, through the Center for Social Communications and Alumni Affairs-Institute of Peace Communication Studies, gathered its students, staff, and guests for The Escherian Stairwell Effect: A Film Screening + Forum on Disinformation, Mental Health, and Voter Literacy in the Digital Age at the Cross Theatre on April 25, 2025. This initiative, together with Media Educators of Mindanao (MEM) and forumZFD, is part of HCDC's election education campaign, which served as a preparation for the community to vote wisely.
The event featured Michael Lacanilao's viral Escherian Stairwell documentary, a fabricated but highly convincing hoax, a video that led millions to believe in an impossible, physics-defying staircase.
A decade after his film thesis about a paradoxical stairwell broke into the public consciousness, Manila-born/Bacolod-based filmmaker Michael Lacanilao recounts the early days of the project and the existential worries that birthed the internet legend. A quiet meditation set against the maelstrom of the 2022 Philippine election season, A Brief History of the Escherian Stairwell grapples with deep questions about the nature of belief, knowledge, and discerning truth from falsity, all while chronicling the gripping saga of how a 2012 student project anticipated the age of disinformation.
An insightful discussion about the film, disinformation, mental health, and voter literacy was fostered during the forum, where experts shared their reactions to the film based on their context. The pool of panelists consisted of Ms. Dolly Joy Ronquillo, HCDC's Bachelor of Science in Psychology Program Chairperson; Mr. Arvin Jay Perez, HCDC-SSG President; Michael Lacanilao, Filmmaker; Mr. Yas Ocampo, Fact-Checker from Mindanews and International Fact-Checking Network; and Ms. Fatima Star Lamalan and Alex Mwangi, forumZFD Project Officers. The forum was moderated by Ms. Jill Palarca, Consultant of HCDC-IPCS, Co-Founder of Media Educators of Mindanao (MEM), and Specialist of Mindanews Training and Development.
The film and forum featuring 'A Brief History of the Escherian Stairwell' bridges peace communication, fact-checking, voter literacy, and mental health awareness by equipping journalists, youth leaders, and community members with the skills to verify information, counter disinformation, and foster responsible election discourse while addressing the mental and emotional toll of information warfare. PR