CINEMALAYA'S CHILDREN: THE CINEMA OF LOST INNOCENCE

 Cinemalaya  has always hosted a number of films centered on children in their various awkward and even critical ages.  

The transformation of children into that painful passage to adulthood has always served as a popular theme for independent filmmakers making statements not jhust about growing up but the factors that bring these critical changes in the lives of the young.  From Clodualdo del Mundo Jr.'s Pepot Artista and Aureus Solito's Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (2005) to Lawrence Fajardo's The Hearing (2024), the independent film festival has always provided room for films that dealt with the complexities of youth in a world that is even made more confused and confusing.

But this year Cinemalaya has three films that provide insight into the minds of the young placed in a variety of scenarios.  

Although they are almost similar in premise, the approaches done by the screenwriters and directors seem to have pulled them to worlds apart. JL Burgos' Ganggang, Kaka Sa Yawan ( Brothers of the River ) of Alpha Habon and Mark Duane Angos' Hand of God  all focus on the critical and life-changing journeys of young boys as they react and interact with the world around them.

Kaka SaYawan is about a lifelong friendship between Nico, a City Boy and a Mangyan youngester who he meets in a visit to Mindoro.  Ganggang may seem like a simple look into bullying in a remote public school using the metaphor of spider fights on tingting stalks but actually cuts deeper into the politics of power.  But it is Hands of God, a devastating tale about innocence lost when children are caught in the crossfire of a never ending war that leaves the strongest impression --- and disturbance.

The premise is simple: a military man named Reyes (credibly portrayed by Ruru Madrid) brings football right in the heart of an isolated Muslim community that has decided to stay neutral and out of the way of the battle between the soliders and the insurgents led by a certain Omar ( played with such casual and effective villainy by Jhong Hilario). The insurgents have resorted to recruiting children to be their soldiers in replacement for those eliminated by the military.

The heart of the movie is a boy named Khaleel (KD Omalin), the child of Farida (Iza Calzado) in a small village where an elder named Pah Ismail (Ronnie Lazaro) serves as mediator between the dwellers, the rebels and the military.  Reyes concocted a completely different strategy to win the trust and loyalty of the Muslims: he introduces and trains the children how to play football.  Khaleel has already been recruited by Omar to be part of his rebel squad but he orders the boy to return to his mother and entice his peers to join the insurrection. But in the process, Omar is introduced to football and is befriended by Reyes.  Thus provides the very core of the story.

The very first feature film of Mark Duane Angos literally broke my heart.,

At the end of the film, I found myself in tears mourning for the burnt innocence of the children caught in the maelstrom of war.  The fate of Khaleel and Farida is often ignored, taken for granted and even normalized in a world accustomed to violence and indifferent to the damage done by war. In the game of politics and strategizing, it is the children who suffer most --- whether they are victims or survivors.

And maybe that is why Ganggang, Kaka Sa Yawan  and especially Hand of God are such relevant statements made by Filipino filmmakers shaping their voices out of the national and international chaos that is the here and now.

I celebrate Hand of God for what it aspired to say and the manner by which Direk Mark Angos shaped his story.  I applaud Ruru Madrid, Iza Calzado, Ronnie Lazaro and Jhong Hilario for this exceptional work now immortalized in film.  But most of all, I embrace KD Omalin for representing all the children who have become collateral damage to the folly and recklessness of adults who flaunt their powers to rule the world and destroy lives.

OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN: CINEMALAYA @ 22

 Twenty-two years later, the festival of independent cinema offers a curation of some of the best films in its history.  What makes this year's entries more important is how a number of these films center on Filipino women and children.

I will plow into a more incisive analysis of the recurring themes that seemingly reverberate in some of the best entries this year:  the sadness of women and the loss of innocence of children.  What is more important than citing what the filmmakers want to say in the here and now is an understanding of why these films resonate in this volatile year of political turmoil, duplicity and most of all, a search for meaning amidst an atmosphere of desperation.

Two of the more impressive movies center on the sadness of women.

The ignored and seemingly unloved heroine of STATUS: REJECTED and the victim of everyday bureaucracy in a country that has failed its citizenry in 2 VALID IDs are the two most impressive contributions of the festival this year. 

Van Leinard Pascual's STATUS: REJECTED is an unfiltered depiction of loneliness and the feeling of uselessness and abandonment in old age.  When Biring (Ruby Ruiz) decides that her only salvation is to cross the Pacific Ocean and join her son who is an illegal alien in Trump's America, her best friend Tess (Beverly Salviejo) decides to introduce her to online dating apps where she meets her American Prince Charming.

Early on, one could already predict where that road would lead but the engrossing performances, especially of Ruiz and her daughter played by Alessandra DaRossi reveal more than just competence delivery but an evident commitment to a project meant to give very clear and definite statements.  The desperation of Biring is not merely an economic challenge but that of what to do with the rest of her existence and Ruiz embraces that character well.

Similarly, Ma-an Asuncion Dagnalan's 2 VALID IDs tackles another level of despair, illustrating the frustrations of everyday bureaucracy and the glaring failure of our health care system where the poor prefer to die than to suffer the inhumanity of systemic requirements.  Based from the screenplay of Abet Pagdagdagan, this film leaves no room to breathe freely. Instead, it entraps the viewer into that germ-infested claustrophobic atmosphere of a hospital ward where the poor grasp for the last straws of hope that medicine can save them from a seeming irredeemable situation.

Whereas Ruiz as Biring embodied the desperation brought by loneliness and isolation, Marietta Subong (more popularly known as the comedian Pokwang) embodies the bane of womanhood and poverty combined, a farmer's wife who struggles through the complexities of requirements and deadlines ... only to realize that all these are mere exercises in futility.

If there is one thing in common about these two impactful films about women maneuvering their way through this urban labyrinth, then it is that sense of dreadful naturalism.  No one can escape heredity and environment as we are all victims of circumstances and must learn to accept our limitations granted onto us upon birth.

But despite all the bleakness and heaviness of the heart these films carry, it is the success of the performances that again prove that Cinemalaya provides the venue for our cinema artists --- especially our artistas to show just how much they can give.

Pokwang already showed the range of her  acting prowess in Dwein Baltazar's Oda sa Wala but it is here that we see an even more surprising performance.  Indeed, comediennes wield extraordinary talents that when tapped reveal a far greater acting range than what is demanded of them in their regular gigs.  Similarly, Joey Marquez and Zaijan Jaranilla add gravitas to Dangnalan's piece: Jaranilla as a child actor already showed the promise but, after all these years, it is Marquez who still surprises the audience with his capacity to show the depth of pain ... and the embodiment of everything wrong about our system as he becomes just another body, just another victim.

If only for these two films --- from a first-timer in Van Leinard Pascual --- and a filmmaker in her sophomore entry to Cinemalaya, then the effort to go all the way to the cinema and brave these rains is guaranteed a worthy adventure.  Pascual handles his first feature with confidence and focus --- while dear Ma-an has shown how she could do great leaps from Blue Room  to this seething statement on the plight of every Juan.  

If only for these two films, we need not argue that Cinemalaya is an important annual event which we, as supporters of evolving culture, must never allow to die. 

And for those who have a mouthful to say about the garbage-like quality of Filipino movies in your arrogant if not inutile generalizations about our cinema, manood nga kayo ng Cinemalaya. Give yourself the chance to be proud of who you are in the stories your countrymen tell in the language of films.