The MindaNews Podcast
By MindaNews
The MindaNews PodcastFeb 27, 2021
Minda Salida #13 | Departure, return: The region as liminal space in 3 Filipino films
While this sense of belonging to a region or ethnolinguistic group remains to be true for most of the films that continue to come out from the regions, regional cinema’s usual preoccupation with place-rootedness is coming to terms with the realities of migration and globalization. How does ‘regionality’ or a distinct regional ‘sensibility’ emanate from a ‘transregional’ film, for instance? Where does its rootedness take place?
For filmmakers who have moved places, and are moving in and out of regional–even national–borders, living outside the immediate realities of their hometowns, defining and engaging with a regional cinema and one’s identity as a regional filmmaker becomes challenging–a theorizing that should also be grounded in the conditions of filmmaking in the regions, the opportunities, or lack of it, that shape the practice.
This Minda Salida podcast discussed Filipino films–two 2023 Cinemalaya narrative films and one 2012 documentary film–that depict the liminality of the regional space with characters arriving and departing, leaving and coming home.
In Gitling directed by Jopy Arnaldo, a Bacolod-born translator and Japanese filmmaker meet in Bacolod at an international film festival, where the latter is premiering his film. And yet, it isn’t much about Bacolod as a place, or the Chicken Inasal that the two ate together, but more about the mechanics of translation, and the possibilities offered by it, paralleled by the potentiality of romance from chance encounters.
Meanwhile, Ryan Machado’s Huling Palabas depicts a provincial upbringing in the town of Looc, Romblon, where a movie-obsessed and fatherless teenager and his best friend come of age in the midst of a waning VHS era. The film is also an exploration of queer identity, and how folklore, fiction, and migration shape our way into the world. It presents the region as a locus of departures and arrivals, of the push and pull of the old and new.
In Sherbien Dacalanio’s Ang Pagbabalik ng Bituin, a Mindanao-born domestic helper working in Manila travels back and forth to her hometown in Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte via the RORO bus bringing with her pirated DVDs and establishing a mini-movie house with her neighbors as patrons. As much as it is about the homecoming of the titular Estrella (star, in Spanish), this fascinating 2012 documentary, which was part of the Daang Dokyu, opens up the discussion about film access and distribution.
The podcast ties up neatly the themes discussed in the films into a narrative that is also about movies and watching movies as a collective experience.
This podcast is completed under the author’s Arts Equator Fellowship. The views expressed are solely of the author.
Special thanks:
Rap Meting of TimeWRAP Films
Executive Producer: Yas D. Ocampo
MindaNews Editor-in-Chief: Bobby Timonera
Hosts, Minda Salida: Jay Rosas and John Bengan
Gitling: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eILaN4P6kRc
Huling Palabas: www.youtube.com/watch?v=flz260WfCaw
Ang Pagbabalik ng Bituin: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZZ4YVYSnig
Minda Salida #12: Davao City through the lens of local filmmaking’s new breed—Wowa Medroso and Conrad dela Cruz
Medroso made Trabungko, a fantasy retelling of the myth of his birthplace Tibungco, a district located in the outskirts of Davao City, while Dela Cruz’s entry is Bootleg, about two DVD pirates who succumbs into the world of drug dealing with the waning profitability of their trade. Both films are wildly different from each other, but they depict a contemporary Davao in all its gritty realism and as a myth-filled landscape, while cognizant of a Mindanao storytelling consciousness.
Following Bootleg, Dela Cruz made two shorts: Living Dead and Dead in the Dark during the pandemic, which looks like they exist in the same microcosmic universe—a nondescript interior of a house—saturated with a neon-soaked bloodbath. Dead in the Dark won best short film at the 8th edition of Ngilngig Asian Fantastic Film Festival, with the jury citing its fantastical tale of the macabre that speaks of our contemporary history of violence.
In his sophomore short, Kumbiyor (The Conveyor Belt), Medroso was able to make use of his place’s remoteness, its existence between the urban and rural spaces of the city, as a futuristic landscape gripped by a zombie apocalypse. He followed it up by ‘Tong Adlaw Nga Nag-Snow sa Pinas (The Day it Snowed in the Philippines), about two boys obsessed with snow and Samurai movies, that also works as a commentary on latent violence in the form of child abuse. A complete turnaround from his mid-length sophomore film, the film’s runtime is a mere five minutes, a requirement of the Sine Kabataan film lab. Nonetheless, the brevity showcased his skill at storytelling restraint, and proved successful as it competed as one of the 10 entries in Cinemalaya’s short film category last year.
Medroso continues his Cinemalaya streak with his first feature-length film Kantil, produced with funding under the festival. It will be a science-fiction queer story featuring two boys, that feels like a continuation of his Sine Kabataan short, and will still be set in his birthplace Tibungco, particularly in the coastal slums. Meanwhile, Dela Cruz says that he would like to “commit more mistakes” with short films before embarking on a full-length film, planning to complete a trilogy of horror shorts that starts from his recent Ritwal, which won for him a Best Director trophy at last year’s MFF.
In this podcast, Minda Salida talks to Wowa and Conrad about their films, influences, filmmaking process, appreciating each other’s works as well as their contemporaries, and their insights on Mindanao regional cinema.
Note: This essay was completed under the author’s Arts Equator Fellowship. Views expressed are solely of the writer.
Special thanks:
Paolo Papica of Suazo Bar, Balik Bukid, Liz Manabat, Brendel Zarate.
Executive Producer: Yas D. Ocampo
MindaNews Editor-in-Chief: Bobby Timonera
Hosts, Minda Salida: Jay Rosas and John Bengan
Lifting Local #1: Olive Puentespina, cheesemaker and innovator (1st of 2 parts)
open.spotify.com/episode/5rHaJWIoEDWbVUAqmY3V6v?si=fbQdeyGGQfar7Qt3-O4--w
The arguments against Waste to Energy: Interview with No Burn Pilipinas and IDIS
open.spotify.com/episode/43XHmltOIkAK8bxm5D5nlJ?si=39f8869e610b4d61
Lifting Local #1: Olive Puentespina, cheesemaker and innovator (1st of 2 parts)
Executive Producer: Yas D. Ocampo
Host: Liezl Salera-Manabat
Running About... 'Ready? Get set?'
Executive Producer: Yas D. Ocampo
Art by Keith Bacongco
Minda Salida #11: The Mindanao Imaginary in Cinemalaya
This podcast conversation examines how each film imagined the idea of Mindanao, particularly its image as a perpetually-mined site for narratives of war and conflict, preoccupying the consciousness of filmmakers away from the region. While admittedly non-Mindanao filmmakers face certain challenges and production limitations, this preoccupation is a point of interest that is worthy of probing into particularly how these filmmakers negotiate with the historical, social, and psychological dimension of the unrest in Mindanao into the narratives of their films, which cover decades-long conflicts and the very recent threats of terrorism.
The films discussed are: The Baseball Player by Carlo Obispo, set during the 2000 all-out war of the Philippine government against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); Angkas (Backride) by Rain Yamson, a road-trip buddy movie on habal-habal which touches on the communist insurgency, supposedly set in Mt. Diwalwal; 12 Weeks by Anna Isabelle Matutina, about NGO worker Alice who is faced with a life-changing decision after an unwanted pregnancy; and Bula sa Langit (Triggered), which is about a returning soldier fresh from the Marawi Siege faced with trauma and the difficulties of regaining normalcy from the experience of war.
The lack of accessibility to these films is also pointed out, even with the current trend of streaming services acquiring indie film titles to diversify their film catalog. These films were only shown during a limited local run at the Cinematheque Davao but also did not draw in a considerable number of audience with the limited promotions in social media.
Minda Salida hosts Jay Rosas and John Bengan look back at the three-year gap of the podcast to give a brief snapshot of the Philippine and regional film scene, particularly in the post-pandemic context with film productions and film-related events like festivals slowly returning to normal.
There is also an observed lack of full-length film outputs from Mindanao filmmakers since productions and activities returned to normal. However, new filmmaking voices continue to emerge as short films still reign in regional film festivals. Lastly, Rosas shares that two upcoming first full-length feature films from Davao filmmakers will soon go into production like Wowa Medroso’s Kantil (a Cinemalaya 2024 film) and Jarell Serencio’s The Boy and Flight of Spiders (which won a grant during the last QCinema International Film Festival), aside from upcoming full-length films from Teng Mangansakan and Bagane Fiola.
This Minda Salida podcast, completed under the Arts Equator fellowship, was produced in partnership with MindaNews and the first episode after three years since it was launched in 2020. (Listen to the previous ten episodes on Spotify here.)
Hosts: Jay Rosas and John Bengan
Special thanks: AVL, Bagane Fiola, Melona Mascariñas, Anj Estrella, Rap Meting, Bobby Timonera, Carolyn Arguillas
Audio editor: Alexis Rafael Delola
Executive Producer: Yas D. Ocampo
Aubrey DS and the creative pursuits that drive us
open.spotify.com/artist/06184HDC4YugVkh6mjyw60?si=mbq02StzQLu1vc37iA8hSw
We discuss the ways that creatives transmute personal experiences into many other things, and in Aubrey's case, these things are likely music.
The MindaNews Podcast is brought to you in part by Holodeck, Cinedashery East, and Alberto's Pizza.
Davao-based Eric Gancio and the return of Yano
This podcast episode is brought to you in partnership with Holodeck Productions, Cinedashery East, and Alberto's Pizza.
The arguments against Waste to Energy: Interview with No Burn Pilipinas and IDIS
This edition is brought to you in partnership with the No Burn Pilipinas campaign of the Eco-Waste Coalition, under the Break Free from Plastic project. Davao City is pursuing a plan to build a waste to energy plant, and environmentalists are not convinced this should be the way to go. According to representatives from No Burn Philippines and Interfacing Development Interventions, there are already policies in place that make sure that garbage is segregated at source, that organic waste is composted at home, and that recyclables are recycled and no longer need to make their way to the city's garbage piles.
This podcast episode is made possible by a grant from No Burn Pilipinas.
Podcast cleanup: Brendel Zarate of www.brendelzarate.co
Executive producer and story: Yas D. Ocampo
Special thanks: Balik Bukid
COVID, Conflicts and the Peace Process: Focus on Marawi |
This is a podcast edition of COVID, Conflicts and the Peace Process online forum: focus on Marawi City.
May 23, it will have been four years since they were forced out of their homes and while many of them have returned, most of the 27,000 families in ‘Ground Zero’ or the former main battle area between government forces and the Maute Group and its allies, have yet to return home.
We will also check on the progress of the rehabilitation efforts and the security situation in the area.
“COVID, Conflicts and the Peace Process” is a two-session special edition of Reporting Mindanao, an online forum launched in October last year by MindaNews, to discuss various concerns in Mindanao and to provide journalists a venue to enhance their coverage and understanding of these issues.
This is in partnership with Internews. For a copy of the full web forum, email sales@mindanews.com
Executive Producer: Amalia Cabusao
Editor-in-chief: Carolyn Arguillas
Technical team: Rob Gumba and Yas Ocampo
Photographer: Froilan Gallardo
COVID, Conflicts and the Peace Process: Focus on South Upi |
The pandemic has made the political transition in the two-year-old autonomous region even more fragile as skirmishes between government forces and extremist groups, inter-clan disputes and conflicts over land, sent thousands of residents to evacuation centers where observing minimum health protocols such as physical distancing, washing of hands with soap and wearing of face masks, is a major challenge.
Listen to the podcast edition of this episode from our Reporting Mindanao series, in partnership with Internews, on ‘COVID, Conflicts and the Peace Process’ which will focus on what is happening in South Upi, Maguindanao.
Featuring excerpts from the Feb. 6 web forum with guests Dr. Jowel Canuday, Froilyn Mendoza, Edward Abelardo, and Naguib Sinarimbo. The full web forum video can be viewed here.
For a full copy of the web forum, e-mail sales@mindanews.com. Presentations are available by request via editor@mindanews.com.
Editor-in-Chief: Carolyn Arguillas
Executive Producer: Amalia Cabusao
Video producer: Ferdinand Cabrera
Technical staff: Rob Gumba and Yas D. Ocampo
Mindanao Week of Peace message by Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla |
Listen to the message of Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla, chair of the Bishops-Ulama Conference, on the Mindanao Week of Peace 2020, which runs from November 26 to December 2. This year's theme is "Dialogue Towards Harmony."
Monitoring Marawi: Voices from Marawi |
Welcome back to Reporting Mindanao, an online forum initiated by MindaNews to discuss various concerns in Mindanao and to provide journalists a venue to enhance their understanding and reporting of these issues. This episode is the podcast version of the web forum held last November 16, 2020
For this edition, we are launching our Monitoring in Marawi Series, with “Voices from Marawi” because that is what the 127-page report of the Bangsamoro Parliament’s Special Committee on Marawi will share with us: voices from Marawi still crying for attention 37 months after President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi “liberated from the terrorist influence.”
Executive Producer: Amalia Cabusao
Technical Director and Web Forum Production: Rob Gumba, Jr.
Podcast Production: Yas D. Ocampo
Photo: Manman Dejeto
Editor-in-Chief: Carolyn Arguillas
Special thanks to MP Anna Tarhata Basman
Reporting Mindanao: Bangsamoro in Transition - Normalization |
You’re listening to the second part of the Bangsamoro in Transition series of Reporting Mindanao. This podcast edition examines the progress of the Normalization track of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as mandated by Republic Act 11054, the enabling law of the 2014 peace agreement.
How many combatants and weapons of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front have been decommissioned since the Bangsamoro Government was inaugurated in March 2019? How many more are to be decommissioned before June 30, 2022, at the end of the transition period?
Normalization, however, is not just about decommissioning the MILF’s weapons and combatants. It is much more than this. Let’s find out in this second part of the presentation of the Bangsamoro Midterm Review conducted by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus.
Reporting Mindanao: Bangsamoro in Transition - Legal and political track |
You are listening to Reporting Mindanao, an online media forum initiated by MindaNews to discuss various concerns in Mindanao and to provide journalists a venue to enhance their understanding and reporting of these issues. We begin our Bangsamoro in Transition series with a two-part session on the mid-term review conducted by the Mindanao Peoples Caucus on the three-year transition of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. What have the Bangsamoro transition government and the national government accomplished under Republic Act 11054, the enabling law of the 2014 peace agreement. What have they failed to do and why? Let's find out! This is an audio edition of the October 29 , 2020 forum on the Legal and Political track of the Bangsamoro transition. The second session is on the Normalization track.
Related stories:
Mid-term review recommends extension of Bangsamoro transition until June 2025
Special development fund for Bangsamoro: only 2.5-B out of 10-B released
Web Forum: Where do our disposable PPEs go |
It has been six months since COVID-19 disrupted our lives: the way we do business, how we interact with our family and community, our traditions, school systems, and how we face the world when we do venture outside our homes.
In this podcast of our web forum held online on August 24, we have invited resource speakers from the health department, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and environment organizations to share with us their insights.
"Where do our disposable PPEs go?: Assessing waste management in the time of COVID-19" Web Forum is organized by MindaNews, the news service arm of Mindanao Institute of Journalism, Inc., in partnership with the Internews and Earth Journalism Network.
Podcast produced and edited by Yas D. Ocampo and Rob Gumba
Executive producer: Amalia Bandiola Cabusao
Director: Rob Gumba
Voice talent: Jessica Hye
All presentations from the Web Forum are available for download.
Fr. Chito Soganub remembers Marawi --
For this edition, let us remember Fr. Teresito "Chito" Soganub, martyr of inter-religious dialogue, who survived 117 days as hostage of violent extremists in Marawi City in 2017. The Vicar-General of the Prelature of Marawi spent 23 years in the country’s lone Islamic city. After his escape from his captors,Fr. Chito was not given any pastoral assignment to allow him to undergo trauma healing. He died in his sleep early morning of July 22, 2020 in their ancestral home in Norala, South Cotabato.
Related stories:
Peacebuilders reminisce the legacy of Fr. Chito Soganub
Fr. Chito Soganub, Marawi siege survivor, laid to rest
Fr. Chito Soganub: interfaith dialogue martyr, Marawi hostage survivor, dies in his sleep
Mindanawons to SC: Declare Anti-Terror Law unconstitutional --
For this edition, we broadcast the full audio recording of the online press conference in Davao City on August 3, 2020 on the filing of a petition via registered mail and e-mail to ask the Supreme Court to declare the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 unconstitutional. According to the Mindanawon petitioners--a Moro leader, a human rights worker and three journalists — and an organization catering to the education of Indigenous Peoples or Lumads, a law with no regard for human rights cannot defeat terrorism.
Related story by Carolyn Arguillas: https://www.mindanews.com/top-stories/2020/08/mindanawons-ask-sc-to-declare-anti-terror-act-unconstitutional-law-with-no-regard-for-human-rights-they-say-cant-defeat-terrorism/