Save 'Happyland'
When Jim Libiran was asked by Boy Abunda why he quit a comfortable career in TV to become an independent filmmaker, he threw a question back, “Which do you prefer, Boy? An expensive bed or a good night’s sleep?”
After being a journalism for 20 years, Jim went back to school as a UP film major in 2004. He has come a long way since then. His debut film Tribu went on to become Cinemalaya 2007’s best film and then bagged awards at international film festivals.
He is currently working on his second film, Happyland. If you are a film lover, Happyland is the film for you. If you are a football lover, Happyland is the film for you. But here’s the catch: Happyland remains unfinished. And he needs a little help from you.
Filming in Homeland
It all came about from the Waray term hapilan, which residents used to refer to the local garbage dump. Eventually, it morphed into the happier term that it is today.
“What I wanted to show with Tribu was this is how we kill. With Happyland, I want to show the lighter side of Tondo — families who use swear words as a sign of affection, smiling faces in the middle of crisis, like what we saw in Ondoy.”
When Direk Jim said he’d give me a taste of Happyland, I expected the usual poverty porn. But if anything, the shots of this supposedly “poverty porn” actually end up looking quite... majestic.
That’s because Jim is nothing but proud of his hometown. “Tondo was the land of kings and artists in the old times. I am inspired by international artists like Rey Paz Contreras, who took travieza (cheap railroad wood) in Tondo and turned it into sculptures worth more than gold. It’s so expensive that the only Contreras piece I own is an ashtray downstairs.”
Another interesting element in the film is a living artifact of our Spanish occupancy. It comes in the form of Fr. John Andreu, SDB, a 75-year-old Spanish priest who has taught football in Don Bosco Tondo for the last 50 years. This energetic priest is beloved to all the locals, as he plays himself in the film.
The Biz in Showbiz
Jim has learned a valuable aspect in indie filmmaking: “Cinemalaya requires you to put up a company that will own the film. Indie means hindi libre [not free]. Teach your audience to buy. Not to download. Even if they have no money, I’d still make them pay P5 to get the idea across.”
Preproduction budget came from Jim’s retirement pay and monthly earnings. For two years, he posed as a sponsor for the young cast from Tondo who were being trained to become a unified football team. Though the kids knew he was a director, he wanted football — not acting — to be their primary motivation. Even when he didn’t have anything to shell out, he would still show up at the games.
After two and a half years of preparation, day one of shooting came and they had no money. But Jim took everything on faith. From his own pocket and small donations from friends, they mounted day one successfully, which produced a teaser that was shopped around for financiers. It attracted big sponsors like Alaska, Rebisco, Puma, and Wheatgrass, who all believed in the social cause of the film.
But in making a film, things go wrong all the time. The editing house over-quoted them an amount they couldn’t afford, so they decided to pull Happyland out. When they got the footage back, some of the big scenes were missing.
“I was in a dark place for a month,” he recalls. “I could empathize with the Hong Kong bus hostage taker. Your whole life’s work gone in a snap.” Production has spent 12 million already. They need another three million to reshoot the missing scenes. They have resorted to “crowd-funding” to fill the gap, which has attracted known brand executives in Europe.
And Jim revels in the unpredictability of the filmmaking process. “I always use the word mystical. Things will fall into place. Even if you’re the most control freak of a director, you are not the driver of your film. Someone else is making it for you.”
Football lover or film lover or not, Jim Librian simply makes a plea for love. “Independent cinema is not exclusive to the auteur. If anything, it’s actually dependent cinema. We are dependent on your money, on your support. We are dependent on your love.”
* * *
Special sneak preview sponsored by Instituto Cervantes will be on Sunday, October 10 at Greenbelt 3. If you buy a Happyland Belgian chocolate cake, your P1,200 baking delight comes with a free invite to tomorrow’s screening. Delivery is free. Please contact Mitch at 09178915477.
* * *
Follow me @ http://twitter.com/pingmedina
