June 12, Philippine Independence Day, also marked the gala night of the very first Istorya ng Pag-Asa Festival, a joint project of the Office of the Vice President and the Ayala Foundation. The project started as a photo gallery showcasing the inspiring stories of everyday Filipino men and women as they live their lives with courage and grace. Out of a significant amount of entries, the fifteen finalists were screened during the gala night, with the top three films set to screen in Ayala Cinemas nationwide.
Most of the films were very short (often five to ten minutes in length,) and the stories were varied even though some of the people had similar jobs. What gets me most about the festival is that with our nation in the state it is today, it's nice to have media showing us something hopeful and positive for a change instead of the relentless negativity we experience daily. The festival recognizes that there is something valuable, perhaps even heroic, in ordinary men and women triumphing over adversity..
As for the shorts themselves, here's what I thought about them:
The Climbing Puppeteer is about a man who, through his mountaineering hobby, discovered a bunch of impoverished settlements. He then finds a way to combine his hobby with community service and outreach. It's not bad, and the film does take an interesting turn when he explains the whole puppeteer part.
McLaine is about a problem student that eventually becomes a teacher himself. It's composed of a long dramatization, followed by only a very brief payoff. The story is nice but the execution feels a bit off.
Dealing With Healing is one of two stories that deal with people struggling with mental health issues. it shows that even people that seem outgoing and extroverted can suffer from this condition. I appreciate the conversation, though I felt it may have downplayed the medical aspect a bit. Stories like these are very important to me, and as our country is getting close to signing a Mental Health Bill of our own, and I hope these kinds of stories guide us into making the right laws.
Ngiti is the second of two stories of people struggling with hard life challenges and mental health issues. I also have the same concerns with this film as I did with the previous one, but I think this is still a story worth telling.
Ang Gahum Sang Daku Nga Handum is about Vejiel, a member of an indigenous tribe in Negros, who became a teacher to help uplift her community. In a short time, the film highlights the challenges these people have to face in terms of cultural attitudes and socioeconomic issues, and it shows that all it takes is a lot of hard work, determination, and the idea that cultural attitudes can be changed for the better.
Alkansiya probably has one of the festival's best concepts: it's about a boy who dives for coins under a bridge in Manila. This is, according to the boy, so that he can be reunited with his mother who lives in the province. The presentation is not as clean as I had expected, but it more or less delivers on its message.
If you've heard of last year's documentary Haunted or the Malaya Lolas in general, the story behind Liham Pagmamahal Para sa Kasalukuyan should be familiar. It is a shorter version of the story told in that documentary, and it serves as both testimony and reminder of the horrors of the past. I believe it's an essential story to tell given that recently, in exchange for political handholding, some people would rather choose to forget these stories.
Liwanag is about a woman, who, despite being blind since birth, decided to become a teacher. She succeeded, and her next goal is to make it into a public school to teach, which would be pretty awesome. The presentation is great and straight to the point.
Gawilan is my favorite of all 15 shorts, and it made it into the top 3. It's about a man with a disability who is also an Olympic swimmer. The presentation is slick and structured really well. I hope you guys can catch it in cinemas.
Overdrive is about a mother who moonlights as an Uber driver. The film is about the filmmaker discovering her and wanting to share her story. Content-wise, that's all the film has, but it's more than enough.
Pamilyang Bernardo is about a family with ectrodactyly, a condition that results in deformities of the hands and feet. Since there is a genetic component to this condition, this particular family has it in two successive generations. The film is about how the family strives to get along with government help and how the youngest member of the family (who does not have the condition) wants to study hard to help the people who raised him despite their disability. The film is very well made and though a more comprehensive treatment of the material would have been nice, it's okay as it is.
Dibuho is about Jhalanie Matuan, a woman who creates wonderful works of art but prefers to live in the street. This could be blown into a full documentary, because I think there's a lot that can be told about this particular story. Dibuho elects to highlight one particular story in Jhalanie's life, and that works to the film's benefit.
Ang Biyahe ni Marlon won best picture in the festival, and it's not hard to see why: it's well made and presented and is genuinely emotionally affecting. It's the story of Marlon, who works as an Uber driver. But Marlon also has Tourette's syndrome, making him prone to motor and vocal tics. He has been judged unfairly because of his condition, but he shows us, through this film, that he continues to live his life for his family with dignity. It's a perfect encapsulation of the concept behind the film festival, and it's worth catching once it comes out in theaters.
Person With This Ability is about Daniel Padillan, who, despite being disabled from the waist down, managed to represent the country in international archery competitions. Compared to the other sports related short in this set, the story is much more expansive, detailing Padillan's life from his early days to his eventual triumphs.
The short with the most unique story is probably Tago, which won second best picture. It's about a jazz cafe that has served as a nurturing space for many Filipino Jazz musicians. As a jazz lover myself, this film is totally my jam as it's slickly presented and it's unique concept helps it stand out above the rest.
for more information about the festival and the individual competitors, you can visit the official Istorya ng Pag-asa website at https://istoryangpagasa.ovp.gov.ph/
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