This film is the first ever
project of Mindanao-based filmmaker Teng Mangansakan. It must have been so
special and important to Mangansakan that it took him three long years to
finish it. At least three other feature films of Mangansakan were released
before we ever got a glimpse of the film titled The Obscured Histories and
Silent Longings of Daguluan’s Children.
The film’s initial scene has
a prostrated girl by the sewers. From that grim image alone, I sensed the
influence of Sherad Anthony Sanchez. Sure enough, other scenes and segments
seem to have been culled from Sanchez’s experimental epic Imburnal. A trio of
gossiping girls by the river recalls the exchange of rated-R stories of
juveniles by the mangroves. The non-narrative style is similar to that of Sanchez’s
Imburnal film. The credits listed him as producer although he must have also acted
as creative consultant, even though indirectly.
There’s a memorable,
gripping image of a male child riding a bent trunk of a coconut tree. Towering
nearly five meters over his playmates, he clings precariously on to the
elephantine trunk without a care for the world. Meanwhile, his playmates
seriously vow to attend his funeral in case he falls to his death. That image
of the reckless child struck me as representative of people risking their lives
in order to leave the southern island.
The war in Mindanao
may not have been shown directly but its effects are there alright. Scores of
people are leaving for greener pastures. Socioeconomic services do not reach
people in war-torn areas. Human trafficking is rampant. Young girls
nonchalantly talk about cherry popping. Water and electric utilities are
scarce. The woven stories and tapestry of images portray Mindanao
as a lost paradise.
While Imburnal showed dead-end, cockroach-laden paths for the doomed juvenile delinquents,
Mangansakan’s film shows glimpses of hope in shots of wide-open fields and
verdant mountains. The seeds of peace and progress are waiting to bloom.
No comments:
Post a Comment