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.
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