October 5, 2025
Filmmaker Shirin Dalisay (Noor Hooshmand) screened her film about the a bloody episode during the Philippine-American War in the Ilocos before a panel of critics (Soliman Cruz, Rolando Inocencio, Emmanuel dela Cruz) in an effort to qualify for a full grant. She was recommended to fill in the "gap in historical perspective" by filming about another bloody episode during the Philippine-American War, this time in the south, in Sulu.
"Cinemartyrs" is said to be based on writer-director Sari Dalena’s own experience making her first feature length documentary “Memories of a Forgotten War” (2001), about the Philippine-American War, a war that killed more Filipinos at the hands of American soldiers than in 300 years of Spanish colonial rule. Here, Dalena recreates the challenges faced by female film directors like her from misogynistic colleagues and critics.
The film started with production assistant Oscar (Giancarlo Abrahan) was going around gathering cast and crew together so their remote location shoot in Ilocos can get going. They had light-hearted moments before the shoot, with stars Angel Aquino (as Mother Mary) and none other than Lav Diaz (as Kristo). Tensions rise when suddenly all the cameras fail to function at a critical moment of the shoot, invoking a sense of supernatural protest.
In between the Ilocos and the Sulu shoots, we see Shirin frolicking with her boyfriend Kevin (Cedrick Juan) in the UP Film Center, and their encounter with National Artist Kidlat Tahimik talking about his "dwende." There was also a sidebar to Shirin's mother Prof. Lena and her research on three pioneer female film directors -- Consuelo Osorio, Carmen Concha, and Susana de Guzman, all played by Raquel Villavicencio!
The highlight of the whole film was Shirin's shoot in Patikul, Sulu with an all-Tausug cast led by Laila Urao as the bride Karsum. In obedience to Islamic rules, Shirin had to designate the imam's son Medzfar (Bong Cabrera) to bark out her orders. It started smoothly enough, with a reenactment of a Moslem wedding feast that ended in tragedy. As a famous photograph of the resulting carnage was recreated, a terrifying mystical experience engulfed the whole crew. This was a most mesmerizing sequence, especially since this eerie episode of possession really happened in real life.
The bizarre editing choices for the varied eclectic elements of this film may prove confusing for mainstream viewers. Between a full-length Muslim dance led by 82 year old Ramon Magsaysay awardee Ligaya Amilbangsa and a montage of local pre-war Filipino films directed by women, Shirin had an extraordinary scene of radiant birth that you need to see to believe-- a startling metaphor about filmmaking that no viewer would soon forget. 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment