‘Morong 43’ film wins in Luzon fest

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna—The tight security and high-powered guns at the military camp did not prevent filmmakers from capturing and retelling the story of the 43 health workers detained for 10 months for their alleged subversive leanings.

“43,” a 13-minute collaborative work of the Southern Tagalog Exposure (STEx) and Anino Shadow Play Collective on the arrest and detention of the health workers collectively called as “Morong 43,” was named best documentary film and the STEx, best director in the first PeliKultura.

<strong>Biggest obstacle</strong>

PeliKultura is a festival of local filmmakers from the Calabarzon region, held recently at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB). It was a project of the UPLB Sama Sining, the laboratory arm of the Department of Humanities, and was funded by the National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) under the commission’s program to promote cinema in the regions.

“The biggest obstacle was getting the interviews, because it was prohibited by the jail officers. We relied heavily on the sworn statements and affidavits of the victims,” said Vincent Silarde, one of the directors of STEx.

STEx and Anino, which produced the documentary, both promote alternative and nationalistic arts and media.

The “Morong 43” health workers were on a medical training when government forces arrested them at a private resort in Morong, Rizal, in February last year. The military alleged that they were members of the New People’s Army, and that firearms and ammunitions were recovered from them.

Barred from taking shots inside the detention facilities, Silarde said the Anino Shadow Play Collective performed the “reenactment” of the scenes which the health workers claimed they suffered at the military camp.

The script, quoted from the health workers’ affidavits, was narrated by artists Bibeth Orteza, Joel Lamangan and Soliman Cruz.

“These artists consistently campaigned for the release of the health workers and they never asked for any talent fee,” said Silarde.

A few of the lines were: “I was hit in the head and slapped in the face by the soldiers”; “They attached small alligator clips to my head. The electricity caused my entire body to numb”; “I was sexually harassed by the soldiers.”

“43” came out at the time when the health workers were still under state custody at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, after being transferred from the military’s Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

They were all released in December last year after the court dismissed the charges for lack of merit.

<strong>Campaign support</strong>

“The objective of the film is, first and foremost, to support the campaign for the release of the 43 health workers through awareness and information dissemination. Competition (in film festivals) was not part of the objective,” Silarde said.

Although the health workers were already freed, STEx decided to join PeliKultura to reach a broader audience for the short film.

Humanities instructor and film student Katrina Ross Tan, one of the festival organizers, said the incorporation of shadow play performances in “43” could have captured the judges’ attention.

“They used nontraditional forms, such as [filming] a shadow play and the reenactments. That made it different [from among the entries],” she said.

Tan said the festival created a venue and network among local filmmakers in the provinces, given the concentration of the film industry in Manila.

“It is still different when told from where the story was filmed. It has a regional flavor,” she said.

For Silarde, the film allowed them “to advocate for certain issues that we deem important for the people in Southern Tagalog.”

The other winners in the PeliKultura were as follows: jury prize for documentary, “Abonado” (by Jeffrey Ramos, Cavite); best narrative, cinematography, and directors, “Ang Pag-ikli ng Buhok ng Batang Babae” (by Kevin Dayrit and Carlo Jay Cuevas, De La Salle University, Lipa Batangas); jury prize for narrative, best story, “Soup #4” (De La Salle University, Dasmariñas Cavite).