Cinemalaya’s Best Film is documentary on Cagayan Valley activists

The documentary on Cagayan Valley activists, ” BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED”,    bagged Best Film  of  the 21st  Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.

The film directed by Noni Abao narrated the story of   three land rights activists in Cagayan Valley:  Agnes Mesina  (a development worker), Amanda  Echanis (a jailed mother-artist-activist), and  Randy Malayo (a slain peace consultant).    It also won Best Editing.

The film  was cited for “its powerful and deeply humane portrayal of political activists uprooted by violence yet steadfast in their pursuit of justice and belonging; for transforming the struggle for land, peace, and dignity in Cagayan Valley into a meditation on home, hope, and resilience.”

“Walang terorista dito, puro aktibista lang. Panahon na para ituwid ang balikong naratibo tungkol sa mga aktibista at lahat ng lumalaban,”  Abao said  adding that “red-tagging”   is  a threat to people’s life, liberty, and security.

Not only does red tagging  make activist  leaders’ lives and liberties vulnerable, but there is  a chilling effect on dissent  generated among similar-minded individuals.

The film showed a photo of me and Malayao taken in 1991 when  he was elected as  vice president for Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP),  Malayao was murdered on  January 30, 2019 on his way home to Isabela.

Three films tied for the most awards with three trophies each: “Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan” by Dustin Celestino,  “Cinemartyrs” by Sari Dalena, and “Child No. 82 (Anak ni Boy Kana)”  by Tim Rone Villanueva.

“Hydra” awards include   Best Actress (Mylene Dizon), Best Actor (Jojit Lorenzo) and Best Supporting Actor (Nanding Josef). The film  is about four characters who navigate a political climate where truth has lost its power and history is being rewritten—disappearing, even, with growing disinformation campaigns and changing social norms.

Lorenzo won the  Best Actor award  for “his restrained yet piercing portrayal of a political strategist confronting disillusionment and moral exhaustion in a nation consumed by lies; for embodying the quiet despair and stubborn hope of a man searching for meaning amid history’s erasure.”

Dizon won the Best Actress award for “her searing and compassionate portrayal of a daughter haunted by the sins of her father—a onetime enforcer of a brutal regime—yet bound to protect him in his frailty; for embodying a conscience torn between love, guilt, and moral reckoning.”

Josef was recognized as Best Supporting Actor for “his chilling yet deeply human portrayal of a once-feared Martial Law general now fading into the fog of dementia; for embodying both the terror of tyranny and the fragility of remorse.”

“Cinemartyrs” awards include  Best Director (Dalena), Best Original Musical Score and the Special Jury Prize.

Dalena was cited as Best Director for “her bold and visionary authorship that fuses cinema, history, and haunting memory into a singular act of resistance; for reclaiming women’s voices within the nation’s buried traumas through guerrilla filmmaking that is both mystical and political.”

“Child No. 82 (Anak ni Boy Kana)”  was cited for  Audience Choice Award, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress (Rochelle Pangilinan)

Pangilinan was cited  as Best   Supporting Actress for “her restrained yet searing portrayal of a mother holding her dignity amid abandonment and illusion; for embodying both the ache of loss and the quiet strength of survival as she watches her son chase the myth of a father who was never there.”

The female cast of Open Endings (Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Janella Salvador, Klea Pineda, and Leanne Mamonong) won Best Ensemble Performance for “the seamless chemistry, emotional depth, and playful vitality of four performances that breathe life into a rare story of chosen family and intimacy; and for capturing with honesty, humor, and grace the enduring bonds between queer women navigating love, loss, and friendship.”

Films that received other special  citations : Raging for  Best  Cinematography  and Sound Design; Padamlagan for  Best Production Design: Republika ng Pipolipinas for NETPAC Jury Prize for Full-length Feature.

The 21st Cinemalaya theme of “LAYAG sa Alon, Hangin, at Unos,” highlights the steadfast storytelling efforts of Filipino filmmakers as  the festival remains a “fragile vessel” that struggles each year to stay afloat financially.

Cinemalaya  festival director Chris Millado stressed  that corruption is  part of a larger conversation  about the film industry’s challenges and societal issues.

Millado contrasted the loss of billions of pesos to corruption with the filmmakers’ artistic contributions.”While we are shoved into the mud by the greedy, we uplift the Filipino reputation and consciousness through our continued artistic creation, storytelling, and reflection”.

(Peyups is the moniker of the University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808)