KONTRA-AGOS RESISTANCE FILM FESTIVAL SCHEDUL0 5-11 December, Indie Sine, Robinson's Galleria
5 December, Wednesday OPENING NIGHT PROGRAM FREE ADMISSION
7-7:30 PM cocktails 8 PM
Lupang Hinirang
Welcome Remarks:
Independent Filmmakers Cooperative
Kontra Agos Organizers
Special Guest Performance
Introduction of Walai: Adjani Arumpac
9 PM Screening of Walai by Adjani Arumpac
SHORTS 1 – Mindanao shorts (Programmed by TENG MANGANSAKAN)
7 PM December 6 (Filmmakers’ Reception), 3 PM December
8, 10 PM December 9, 1 PM December 10
ME’GUYAYA (Documentary)
By Eduardo C. Vasquez, Jr.,
Me’guyaya is a Te’duray term for merry-making or thanksgiving. In 2003, an active and concerned group of people in Upi, Shariff Kabunsuan initiated a festival that would unite all residents in thanking God for the abundant harvest. Since then, it has become a big town event that celebrates the richness and diversity of the Muslim, Christian and Lumad peoples of Upi.
The documentary delves on how the Me’guyaya serves as a catalyst for cultural unity as everyone gets involved in the festivities.
TRANQUIL TIMES (documentary)
By Loren Hallilah I. Lao
The documentary delves on the good governance efforts of the private sector, civil society and the local government unit of Wao, Lanao del Sur working together to erase remnants of the religious and ethnic clashes of the 1970s. It explores how peace has been achieved in this multi-ethnic town, ropelling the once-turbulent municipality into its present agricultural renaissance.
GEORGE’S TOWN (Documentary)
By Moises Charles Hollite
George Sabandal is one of about 2,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have sought refuge in the town of Buluan, Maguindanao as a result of the “all-out war” in 2000. Refusing to go back to the place of his origin, he has created a new life for himself and his family in their ideal town.
SULU (Documentary)
By Al Jacinto
Born of a Muslim mother, young writer Arthur Sakaluran Abasalo decides to visit Sulu despite the perceived strife and presence of Muslim rebels and Abu Sayyaf terrorists. In Sulu, he meets a former Muslim rebel-turned policeman who tells him about his life story and how he got separated from his family for more than a decade. He returns to Sulu to start a new life after being reunited with his family.
Arthur returns to Manila after a short stay in Sulu, bringing with him memorable stories and truths about the island feared by many as a dangerous place to go.
BINITON (Narrative)
By McRobert Nacario
A story depicting the process of preparation and cooking of a dish called Biniton that is particular to the community of Saniag, Ampatuan. The process of cooking, in the eyes of an old woman, brings to life the hardships they experienced amidst armed conflict at the same time the process of preparation, through the experience of Amel, her grandson walks us through the current situation of their community. How amidst the hardships and diversity in culture they had all managed to bounce back and become united.
A STEP FOR MY DREAM (Narrative)
By Mona Labado
Seven-year-old Abdul dreams of becoming a leader of his town. He has natural charisma and easily becomes friends with people even if he hasn’t known them for long. But his grandmother reminds him of their peasant roots which is no match to the traditional ruling family. Undaunted, Abdul sees it as a challenge envisions his future.
DREAMS (Narrative)
By Sheron Dayoc
Nine-year-old Satra has been mute for as long as she could remember. But her determination to secure a good education reverberates clearly amid the strictures of her Yakan culture.
SHORTS 2
Screenings: 7 PM December 7 (Filmmakers’ Reception), 1
PM December 9, 9 PM December 10, 4 PM December 11
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF GLORIA (animation/ 1 min.)
By RJ Mabilin
A satire on the different political and economic issues the country faces under the Arroyo administration.
THRESHOLD (experimental/ 15 mins.)
By Mikhail Red
Seeking the Threshold, the Wanderer, endures a dark journey through the unknown and into the limits of the human mind.
BINGO (documentary/ 16 mins.)
By Noriel Jarito
Bingo reveals life’s monotony of rural existence. People embrace almost anything: dull, inspiring, tame, untamed, reputable, and even deceptive. Their horizon is bounded by beliefs which sometimes manage to mislead, mock, and misuse their fate. They surrender and never question the path they trace. Thus, they are lost. Submission is sweet, to do otherwise is bitter. Their incomprehension is at the maximum level that wrong becomes right, and what is right becomes wrong. To play “Bingo” inside a church is never questioned and is labeled licensed by some unprincipled Catholic Church leaders. Christianity is the largest religion and surely many of its followers are destitute enough to consider “Bingo” inside their church as a source of momentary abundance.
Bingo reveals all: People are born. People are being baptized. People marry. People die. All these should have been valuable and symbolic, yet have gone awry and worthless instead. Why? Because of people’s shallowness and ignorance.
LUNES NG HAPIS (narrative/ 12 mins.)
By Nick Olanka
Virgie, an elementary school teacher, and Ismael, the captain of the troop assigned to infiltrate the rebels, are lovers in the midst of a military offense in Filomena. Every Monday they meet and make love passionately and violently. One day, due to the disappearance of Virgie's student's father, she falls into the situation to choose between her love for Ismael and her love for her community.
DIVINE WIND (experimental/ 4 mins.)
By Sari Dalena-Sicat
A Japanese soldier hides in an island, in the belief that the war has not ended.
UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE (documentary/ 30 mins.)
By Herbert Docena and Anna Isabelle Matutina
This documentary contextualizes the issue of US military presence in the country within the long and bitter history of conflict in the south. Countering the reductionist frame set by the narrative of the “global war against terror,” it examines the historical conditions that led to the emergence of the Moro separatist movement and the subsequent rise of the Abu Sayyaf. It dissects the government’s contradictory attempts to downplay its threat while at the same time justifying escalating military operations in the region.
Against this backdrop, the documentary then probes allegations of US military involvement in the war.
PUTOT (narrative/ 20 mins.)
By Jeck Cogama
Putot (Visayan for "small") is the heartfelt story of a young boy growing up at a squatter colony by the sea. Putot, aged 13, is a taciturn boy who takes care of his mentally-ill father, and ekes out a living selling mussels. He meets Mayang, a mysterious young girl with secrets of her own. A friendship begins between the two.
Shot on location near Manila Bay, this emotional story premiered at the 2006 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, where its director Emmanuel "Jeck" Cogama won Best Director. Putot has been shown around the world.
MENDIOLA (documentary/ 31 mins.)
By Sine Patriyotiko
Through the First Quarter Storm to Mendiola Massacre to Calibrated Preemptive Response: from the very start, Mendiola houses the eye of conflict. Fact is, the road from Mendiola to the Palace is several hundred meters away. Nevertheless, this still is a great risk: to look directly at the center is to show the strength to confront those in power. On the road to Mendiola, one can tread across the history of our continuous struggle for change.
SHORTS 3
Screenings: 2:30 PM December 7, 7 PM December 8
(Filmmaker’s Reception), 4:30 PM December 10, 9:30 PM
December 11
ANG BAYAN KONG PAYAPA (experimental/ 5 mins.)
By Elvert dela Cruz Banares
This is the state of our nation cycle.
SIMULA (experimental/ 11 mins.)
By Ruelo Lozendo
A worm enters a man’s ear and lives inside his body. As the worm’s metamorphosis unfolds, the man experiences his own transformation.
PUSHING THE PARAMETERS (documentary/ 27 mins.)
By Kodao Productions
2006 was the worst year for the members of the bar, with seven lawyers and judges reportedly killed within the year. A significant number of these lawyers are directly involved in human rights advocacy. Under the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 19 lawyers and 12 judges were killed. And this can be seen in the light of more than 850 victims of extrajudicial killings from 2001 to 2007.
BINYAG (narrative/ 15 mins.)
By Mariami Tanangco
One night, two tragedies are about to take place. In an abandoned warehouse, rookie policeman is tasked to execute a suspected drug pusher. In the quiet suburbs, a mother is worriedly waiting for her son to come home. A social commentary on police-instigated “salvaging” that was prevalent in the late 80s, the film is intended as a personal elegy on lost innocence.
RED SAGA (experimental/ 15 mins.)
By Gabriela Krista Dalena
Children of the Land faithfully guard the last harvest from thieves. This poetic film offers a glimpse into the passion and pain of the people's protracted war in the countrysides.
MEDALAWNA (documentary/ 16 mins.)
By Apol Dating and Michael Cardoz
The story of a young girl named “Inday Liit” who helps her family earn a living by happily sweeping graveyards.
SA NGALAN NG TUBO (documentary/ 36 mins.)
By Tudla Productions
A video documentary that chronicles what happened on November 16, 2004 when seven people died at the picket lines of the Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac. Millworkers and farm workers of the sugar refinery and plantation owned by the Cojuangcos, one of the wealthiest, landed families in the Philippines, went on strike. Their demands were met with a volley of gunfire from military and police. Beginning with the history and background of the land issue, the film builds the tension gradually, leading up to the actual footage of the Hacienda Luisita incident, when even the filmmaker holding the camera has to run for his life.
FEATURE LENGTH
WALAI (documentary/ 60 mins.) Opening Film – premiere status
By Adjani Arumpac
Walai is an exploration of spaces.
It prods on the memories of four Muslim women who once lived in the infamous White House in Cotabato City. The documentary seeks narratives in “places...we tend to feel without history.” It traces the past through the women's experience of what has happened inside the wrecked home—nostalgia and fear, loss and love, and birth and death.
Screenings: 9 PM December 5 (Opening Film), 1 PM
December 7, 3 PM December 10, 8 PM December 11
THE JIHADIST (documentary/ 75 mins.) – premiere status
By Teng Mangansakan
The Jihadist is an autobiographical documentary on the filmmaker’s struggle as an artist amid the backdrop of the Moro revolution. His search for his rightful place in the memory of his homeland yields questions that require him to confront his identity as a Moro and come to terms with his homosexuality.
Screenings: 9 PM December 6 (Filmmaker’s Reception), 5
PM December 7, 1 PM December 8
STANDING UP (documentary/ 155 mins.) – premiere status
By Waise Azimi
Standing Up is a feature length documentary young Afghan men training to become professional soldiers in the new Afghan National Army. Situated at the Kabul Military Training Center, Standing Up chronicles the struggles and lives of these Afghan men from the moment they arrive at the KMTC to the last day of training of their training. Extensive access to the KMTC training program has provided an insiders perspective into one of the most underreported and important stories in the War Against Terror, the story of those who are Standing Up to the first line of defense.
Screenings: 9 PM December 7 (Filmmaker’s Reception),
3:30 PM December 9, 1 PM December 11
VOICES, TILTED SCREENS AND EXTENDED SCENES OF
LONELINESS: FILIPINOS IN HIGH DEFINITION
(experimental/ 100 mins.)
By John Torres
Voice, Tilted Screens is, at once, a meditation. It is a meta-film that unravels a journey, a chronicle of stories through foreign regions. It is a probing letter from outside circles, an honest account of illegitimate views from uneven terrain, and a narrative-driven exploration of the nooks and peripheries of the body, geography, and weather. As the journey progresses, the film increasingly traverses the countries of revelation, film, and heart to where all journeys are meant to end with.
Screenings: 5 PM December 6, 9 PM December 8
(Filmmaker’s Reception), 7 PM December 10
(DIFFERENT) WAYS AND MEANS
SUB-PROGRAM
HILO (experimental/ 90 mins.)
By JP Carpio
Originally conceptualized as a short film shot in 2004 and completed nearly three years later as a
full-length, the film charts the various emotional courses during a dinner between Emerson, a university professor, and Jenny, a university student.
Screenings: 1 PM December 6, 6:30 PM December 9
(Filmmaker’s Reception)
THE SINGH FAMILY HOME VIDEOS (documentary/ 40 mins.)
By Emman dela Cruz
A documentary work in progress, "The Singh Family Home Videos" charts an intimate look at the family life of the filmmaker's neighbors, a Punjabi Indian family who has assimilated into the Filipino culture and community. Is nationality a matter of origin? Is identity a matter of choice? Or is your "home" a matter of where you are or where you'll be?
Screenings: 1 PM December 6, 6:30 PM December 9
(Filmmaker’s Reception), 6:30 PM December 11
EHEM!PLO (documentary/ 43 mins.)
By Clodualdo Del Mundo, Jr.
‘Lahat tayo ay nawawalan,’ says Heidi Mendoza, a conscientious auditor featured in this EheM!Plo
video-documentary. ‘It is because of corruption that there is poverty,’ argues former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo. They are correct. Corruption ruins our democratic institutions – tempting any to be angry and hopeless. Young people, like Melonie Maglia of Ifugao, are longing for leaders with conscience and competence, not public officials who, according to Fr. Vhong Navarro, invent projects for selfish interest. Mayor Jesse Robredo and Allen Reondanga of Naga City prove that good examples do exist. They employ I-governance and community participation in their struggle to uplift the condition of the Bicol region.
EheM!Plo shows that indeed corruption is violence. If this is trure, then stopping corruption and spreading integrity are now the new ways of working for peace.
Screenings: 1 PM December 6, 6:30 PM December 9
(Filmmaker’s Reception), 6:30 PM December 11
OTHER KONTRA-AGOS EVENTS:
8 December, Saturday, 5-7 PM
PANEL DISCUSSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND ARTISTIC FREEDOM
IN PHILIPPINE CINEMA
FREE ADMISSION
PHOTO EXHIBIT AT THE LOBBY courtesy of the FREE JONAS
BURGOS MOVEMENT
Kontra-Agos Resistance Film Festival is an Initiative of ST Exposure and Digital Cheese in cooperation with UP Sining at Lipunan and the Independent Filmmakers Cooperative. Visit www.kontra-agos. blogspot. com. For inquiries about the festival write to kontra_agos@ yahoo.com
