Cebuano indie film crows in Cannes

CEBU, Philippines - This year is tagged the Year of the Ox, but it looks like the Year of the Rooster for two Filipino independent films—one a feature film and the other a short Cebuano film—sharing the same title “Sabungero/Sabongero” as both enter the fray of filmmaking festivals.

In the national scene, first-time filmmakers Miguel Kaimo and Rozie Delgado’s feature-length “Sabungero” will be shown in the week-long 2009 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival which starts July 17. The film stars Joel Torre as a man who lost everything to gambling and is picking up the pieces of his life. Supporting him are Ricky Davao, Noni Buencamino, Leo Martinez, Mark Gil and Maritoni Fernandez.

The film is produced by JC Bernardo, a cockfighting enthusiast, based on a script by Luz Innocia. The film reportedly took P3.2 million to produce and will have a nationwide release in the later part of this year.

Here in Cebu, multi-awarded filmmaker Ruel Dahis Antipuesto (Confessional) collaborated with New York-based Cebuana filmmaker Janice Perez to shoot “Sabongero”, a short film that resulted from a 12-hour shoot in a cockfight pit in Mactan Island. Check sabongeromovie.multiply.com

The short film has recently been accepted as part of the Short Film Corner of the Cannes Film Festival, one of five film entries that made it from the Philippines to the prestigious filmfest.

Perez and Antipuesto join compatriots Raya Martin, Adolfo Alix Jr., Brilliante Mendoza, Miguel Ocampo and Aissa Peñafiel in showcasing Filipino filmmaking talent at the Cannes in France.

In relation to the advocacy of Cebu’s film enthusiasts to preserve Cebuano culture through indie films and support local artists, the group of Karlo Angelo Cea spearheaded the screening of “Sugbuanong Lilas” last May 9 at the College of Architecture and Fine Arts Theater, University of San Carlos-Talamban campus where “Sabongero” was part of the films featured.

Sugbuanong Lilas exhibited six indie short films that depict the history, culture and contemporary Cebuano art. The other films included were To Siomai Love (Indio Bravo Entry in New York; June 2009); Humamai (2nd Place, Sinulog Short Film Competition); Babaylan; Di Na Lagi Mausab; and Ang Pagbalik (2nd Place, Short Feature Category and Best Regional Entry at the 19th Gawad CCP).

To Siomai Love is about the deeply depressed and heartbroken Marvin who is forced by his brother to use a love potion so to help nurse a romantically aching, ailing heart. While dining at a dumpling stall, 'Siomai Sa Tisa' (Siomai Of Tisa), he meets a pretty Nursing student. After having a short conversation, he feels mysteriously drawn to her so he tries to use the love potion to win her heart. The question posed by the film: Will the love potion work, or will their love take its course even without it?

Humamai is a theoretical film that shows what happened in between the times of the coming and the return of the Spaniards in Sugbu; it shows the tribe’s conversion from believing in anitos to the Holy Child.

Babaylan depicts the life story of a young daughter of a babaylan who used to acquire the babaylan traits of her mother. Threatened, she curses and vexes the people who plan to destroy her. The film explains to the viewers the history of the babaylans since the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Ang Pagbalik is about a woman’s return to her hometown to verify the death of her estranged mother only to find herself reexamining the reasons that drove her into exile for 25 years. 

There was also a special exhibit of “Tipak sa Kalayo” paintings of Ms. Victoria “Bambi” Beltran who played the “babaylan” and who enlightened the viewers on two golden eras of Visayan movies - before WWII and the reign of Gloria Sevilla and Caridad Sanchez.

The screening was organized by Et Al Productions which supports the local independent creative Cebu industry as it works on inculcating in the minds of the youth that social realism can be perceived through arts, and also creating fund raising projects for both established and budding artists.

“Lilas” will undertake a second installment cum episode on July and will include “Kataposang Bagting”, a short film shot in Boljoon town during the excavations made by the socio-anthropologists of the USC at the vicinity of the Nuestra Señora del Patrocinio Maria Church. – With Diem Judilla and Karlo Angelo Cea