"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." - Genesis 1:27
There is a scene in Hiyas Bagabaldo's Pag-ukit sa Paniniwala that deconstructs and inverts the bible passage above: there is a shot of a master wood sculptor working on his latest creation. a statue of the crucified Christ. Yet there is a drawing on a nearby table, perhaps a reference drawing, showing the face of Christ not as an Aramaic Jew, or as a Caucasian man as seen in many contemporary western art pieces, but as a man with vaguely Filipino features. The finished product is even more telling. God creates man, man beholds God, and man (re)creates God in his own image.
The film documents religious celebrations in Paete, Laguna, following two threads relating to the intersections of faith and art. In the first, we see the creation of religious iconography from tree-stump to finished product, and in the second, we see stage presentations of bible stories presented during the town's fiesta. There is no narration, the film deciding to show us these things as is. It's a riveting experience, similar to last year's Bundok Banahaw. In his quest to glorify his god, man creates art, making God's image, recreating God's suffering, reliving his life and telling his stories. It's a mix of traditions that are either native or brought over by our Spanish colonizers.
The visuals can seem surreal at times; with workshops strewn with body parts and finished works. The process seems unending, cyclical, one iteration giving rise to another. It's a remarkable cinematic work, one of the best local documentaries of the year.
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