MMFF New Wave: Beyond franchises and formulae

This year’s filmmakers in the New Wave competition of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) tell stories that veer away from the franchises and formula flicks usually churned out by the annual event’s main section.

Arlyn de la Cruz’s “Mandirigma” goes straight to the battle-scarred mountains and valleys of southern Philippines. “As a journalist, I have been embedded with troops many times in the past,” she recalled. “I’ve been to the so-called war zones. I wanted to recreate the images I saw in the field onscreen.”

She has a simple mission: “I want to give honor to every warrior who fought in the battlefield.”

Although inspired by real events, she clarified that her film is not based on the Mamasapano tragedy, which claimed the lives of 44 SAF (Special Action Force) officers.

John Paul Su similarly tapped into his personal reservoir of experiences in making his entry, “Toto.” “As an immigrant myself, I am deeply attracted to the film’s story,” Su acknowledged. “It speaks of the tension between integrity and compromise in the journey of outsiders.”

“The immigrant experience, and Filipino diaspora,” he pointed out, are recurring themes in his work. But beyond the story of a migrant who yearns to live in the land of milk and honey, he wants to recount the struggle of “every individual who aspires to fulfill his dreams.”

“In my film, everyone has a dream, be it about love, career or friendship,” he related. “But how far will you go to attain your dream?”

Dying language

Carlo Enciso Catu’s “Ari: My Life With a King” chronicles a young man’s odyssey, as well

—specifically, his journey to rediscover his roots through Kapampangan poetry. “This film tells the story of the dying Kapampangan language,” Catu remarked. “It was made with the hope to encourage every Filipino, not just Kapampangans, to learn and speak their own language first.”

Apart from neophyte actors (like Coco Martin’s younger brother, Ronwaldo Martin), Catu likewise worked with

real-life poets. He found “every aspect of the shoot challenging, but inspiring.”

“The excitement, enthusiasm and creativity flowed naturally,” he said.

His film won awards at the Harlem and All Lights (India) fests.

Like Catu’s film, King Palisoc’s “Tandem” is well-traveled, too. “Tandem” was previously screened in Montreal, Vancouver and Cairo. Palisoc, who has always been fascinated with “crime-dramas,” got hooked on the story, because it “depicts a brewing conflict within a family,” with the city’s dark underbelly as setting.

Apart from exploring the dynamics of a “riding-in-tandem” operation, it shows how “brothers are tested in their relationship.” “I wanted to develop characters that live in desperation, not just as victims of society but of their own choices, as well,” he noted. “They may seem trapped in an endless spiral of crime and corruption, but I wanted to make a film that allows characters to have choices, and not be bound by societal pressures.”

Illiterate

Ray An Dulay admitted that, with his film, “Turo-Turo,” he wishes to “touch people’s lives.” The film centers on an illiterate fishball vendor who learns to read and write with the help of his son.

“We want viewers to open their minds regarding the issue of illiteracy,” he said. “Young people do not value education anymore. The youth should not take their studies for granted. Hopefully, we can encourage the audience to finish schooling before it’s too late.”

Also an actor, Dulay is not after fame and awards in directing his film. “We joined this festival not to prove that we are the best,” he owned up. “Our goal is for the audience to appreciate our movie. It’s a great feeling when a moviegoer gives you a compliment that comes straight from the heart.”

MMFF’s New Wave section will have screenings from Dec. 17 to 24 at Glorietta, SM Megamall and Robinsons Place Ermita.