An interconnected system links environment with people and people with each other, and that idea is behind Daang Dokyu's first lineup of documentaries. This first batch of films not only deal with the idea of ecology in the biological sense, but also in the sociological sense. These films show the effects of both colonialism and neocolonialism on Filipino society, and how corporations exploit people for monetary gain.
The oldest films in the lineup, Native Life in the Philippines (1914) by Dean Worcester and Glimpses of the Culion Leper Colony and of Culion Life (1929) by Merl La Voy, are fascinating historical artifacts. But the former was borne out of racism and even white supremacy - the film was made because Worcester wanted material to support his idea that we are a people of savages and thus should not be made independent. He owned land in the Philippines as well, and as such didn't want to lose that land to anyone. The latter, while perhaps far more benign in its intentions, does not completely show how some patients are deprived of their liberties in the island.
Generational oppression is seen in films such as Sabangan (1983) and Dam Nation (2019), filmed 36 years apart, facing the same problem: the impending construction of the Kaliwa Dam, a project that will destroy their way of life if it ever comes into fruition. Over generations, oppression through war is replaced by the neocolonial aims of corporations, such as in Jin Takaiwa's The War We Were Not Taught About (1994).
And there are films that show the human response to trauma in the form of natural disasters: Balud and Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos are responses to Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda by exploring our relationship to disasters, superstitions and myth, while documentaries such as Pinatubo: Pagbangon Mula sa Abo (2011) presents our resilience as a people.
Perhaps one of the most interesting explorations of the idea of Filipino social ecology is Pagbabalik sa Tribo, an installment of the popular Probe Team docuseries, that depicts filmmaker Aureus Solito (now known as Kanakan-Balintagos) as he reconnects with the Pala'wan tribe and fights to defend their right to fish in contested waters. I have been talking a lot about the relationship between man, nature, and other men in this post, and this documentary is a synthesis of all those topics - the Pala'wan are discriminated against, marginalized and oppressed not by foreign invaders, but by fellow Filipinos who desire to monopolize natural resources meant for everyone.
Like so many of the other films in this post, Pagbabalik sa Tribo tackles man's relationship with himself, as both Solito and presenter Howie Severino grapple with their personal and cultural identity, trying to find out what being Filipino means to them.
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Daang Dokyu is a month long film festival celebrating 100 years of Filipino Documentary film. For more information, visit their official website.
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