Solito entry inspired by unwritten Palawan tale

“Jury members in festivals are never the same. Your victory in one competition does not guarantee that you’ll win in another,” said multi-awarded director Auraeus Solito, whose latest film, “Busong,” was featured in the Director’s Fortnight section of the recently concluded Cannes International Film Festival in France.

Solito is reacting to comments that the inclusion of “Busong” in the Cannes festival line-up has given him undue advantage over the other finalists in the Directors Showcase category of the 7th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

The Cinemalaya fete, as a rule, features only debuting films but has given exemptions to those that get invited to Cannes. “Busong” is up against Jeffrey Jeturian’s “Bisperas,” Adolf Alix Jr.’s “Isda” and Joel Lamangan’s “Patikul.”

“I’ve been a festival judge often enough to know that each juror has different tastes,” Solito stressed.

More important

Cinemalaya organizing committee head Laurice Guillen agreed: “I’m not worried that the festival judges will be partial to ‘Busong.’ After all, they are all very independent-minded. I assure everyone that they will not be easily influenced.”

Solito said Filipinos’ reaction to his movies is more important to him than awards. “Pinoys are one-of-a-kind,” he told Inquirer. “They react more passionately than Europeans. When the film was shown in Cannes, the audience gasped at the ending. I’m excited to see how Pinoys will react.”

“Busong” tells of the journey of siblings Puray (Alessandra de Rossi) and Angkarang (Rodrigo Santikan), who travel to Palawan hoping to find a healer who can cure the wounds on Puray’s feet. Along the way, they meet interesting people, like a woman looking for her husband, a fisherman who has lost his boat and a young man searching for himself.

“This is one of the stories my mother used to tell me when I was a child, to put me to sleep,” said Solito. His mother, Leonarda, hails from Puring, one of the last towns in the southern tip of Palawan.

Unwritten legend

“Angkarang at Puray” is an unwritten legend that has been passed from generation to generation through chanting, Solito explained. He said the film also talks about “busong,” a local term for the word “karma,” which, loosely translated, means the effect of one’s action.

After taking up theater arts in the University of the Philippines, Solito returned to his mother’s hometown in 1995 to do research for a novel on tribal legends. “Experiencing Palawan up close and witnessing its rituals, I realized that I could not describe how beautiful everything actually was in a novel. That was when I decided to become a filmmaker.”

“Busong” is the dream movie that had to be put aside so he could make “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros,” which won for him 15 international awards. “I guess I was meant to do ‘Maximo’ first,” Solito said, “because now that I’m working on my fifth film, I’ve become more mature, more decisive and more capable of making intelligent decisions. I realized that everything has a meaning. I pitched this film to a lot of producers. Nobody liked it until now.”

Humbling

Each Cinemalaya finalist received a grant of P500,000 in seed money from the Cinemalaya Foundation. Alternative Vision Cinema, owned by actor Alfred Vargas, is co-producing “Busong.”

Solito shot in Palawan for 18 days. “Creating this film was a humbling experience,” he said. “We had to bow down to nature—’di mo s’ya pwedeng labanan. It rained non-stop while we rushed a scene because Alessandra had to leave for Manila the following morning. I had to adjust, improvise. I guess it helped that I was trained in theater, where I learned to think fast.”

It was Solito’s first time to work with De Rossi, but he claimed that he and the Filipino-Italian actress have a “psychic link.” He explained, “She knows exactly what I want. There were very complicated scenes that she did only in one take. And she appreciates what I’m doing.” This is why, Solito said, De Rossi will again be in his cast for two coming films, also about Palawan.

Measure of success

While he intends to have “Busong” compete in festivals abroad, Solito said, he is also looking forward to its local release. He announced that the Film Development Council of the Philippines is considering “Busong” to open the Palawan leg of its Sineng Pambansa in September or October.

“Right now, more than anything,” the director said, “I just want to enjoy Cinemalaya and its audience. I measure the success of my work by the audience’s applause. I feel happy when people react to something I worked hard for. I’m excited that Filipinos will finally see the film. For me, this is a dream come true.”

“Busong” also features actors Clifford Banagale, Dax Alejandro, Bonivie Budao, Chris Haywood and Walter Arenio. Over a hundred films, both local and foreign, will be screened during the weeklong Cinemalaya.—Marinel R. Cruz