OUR Mindanaoan films have been drawing crowds recently.
From Quezon City to Busan in South Korea and to Warsaw in Poland, films from Mindanao have been put on the spotlight and have also won prestigious awards.
Bangsamoro filmmaker Teng Mangansakan had his Moro2mrw Book 1: Daughters of the Three-tailed Banner entered in the international competition of the 32nd Warsaw Film Festival alongside 14 other films from across the globe.
The 32nd Warsaw Film Festival which ran from October 7 to 16 in the Polish capital is one of Central Europe’s major film festivals.
“The film is a commentary of the Bangsamoro people of Mindanao in Southern Philippines who has been trying to fight for their right to self-determine their destiny for the last 50 years,” film director Teng Mangansakan describes the film during the open forum after the screening held last October 11 in Warsaw.
The 80-minute film tells the stories of two Moro women. Kadiguia, the matriarch of a clan whose last male member died, decides to find a husband for eligible Tonina just to continue the line of martyrs and warriors.
While far-away in the city, another woman named Aida secretly works in a hotel after being scammed by an illegal recruiter. But her family still believes she is working in Kuwait as a nanny.
“I chose to make a film about women because I think women are good representatives of people who journey in very challenging times. Women are more prone to the effects of challenges, of political cultural changes and we are now in the midst of cultural political changes in our country,” Mangansakan said during the forum.
Prior to its screening in Warsaw, the film won awards at the World Premiere Film Festival held in Manila last July. It received the Grand Jury Prize and Best Artistic Achievement.
Sheron Dayoc’s documentary film, Crescent Rising, also won the BIFF Mecenat award at the 21st Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).
The award is given to the best documentary films from the wide angle section of the film festival held annually in Busan, South Korea. Dayoc’s documentary is the only Filipino film to be awarded in the film festival which is touted as one of the largest in Asia.
“The Crescent Rising” follows three stories from Mindanao—a man who denies that the Jabidah Massacre is a lie, rebel fighters who believe that jihad should be a way of life, and a woman caught in the conflict.
Sheron Dayoc said that the award was unexpected as he never thought he would win it. There were 10 other documentaries vying for it and among them is a Filipino documentary, “Sunday Beauty Queen.”
And to make it twin win for Sheron, his narrative full-length feature “Women of the Weeping River” won best film in the recently concluded Quezon City International Film Festival (QCinema International Film Festival).
The film, which revolves around a widow caught in a bloody intergenerational clan war, also won Best Actress plum for Laila Putri Ulao and Best Supporting Actress prize for Tara Daranda.
This year’s QCinema films from Mindanaoan filmmakers were able to grab major awards. Bagane Fiola’s “Baboy Halas, Wailings of the Forest,” won the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury Prize Award aside from the Best Artistic Contribution for Cinematography which was awarded to the film’s cinematographers Mark Limbaga and Raphael Meting.
Baboy Halas which was shot wholly in the forests of Marilog district in upland Davao City tells the story of a Matigsalug hunter and his family adjusting to the unusual changes in their environment.
“I dedicate this award to the indigenous peoples, most especially to the Matigsalug community,” said a joyful Bagane Fiola. He and his crew spent months shooting the film in the forests of Davao City, utilizing actors within the Matigsalug community.
Fiola’s film has enthralled critics and cineastes and is being eyed for exhibition in film festivals around the world.
Meanwhile, Zamboangeño filmmaker Aedrian Araojo’s short film Hondo also won as best short film in this year’s QCinema.
(special thanks to Jessica Jane Ongkingco for the Warsaw Film Festival photos and audio clips). (Rudolph Ian Alma)