Sa Letrang B - baseball,
boxing, BINGO
Baseball, boxing, Bingo –
games that start with the letter “B”
became interesting plots of three competing full-length films for this
year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film
Festival.
After a two-year wait as a
result of the series of COVID-19
lockdowns, Cinemalaya finally
returned as a face-to-face event with
a full-length feature category for eleven films, including the “B” films: “THE BASEBALL PLAYER,” “GINHAWA” and “RETIRADA”.
THE BASEBALL PLAYER tells
the story of Amir (Tommy
Alejandrino) who is a 17-year-old Moro
child with dreams of becoming a baseball player but has to train as a soldier
for the Moro rebels.
Khalid (JM San Jose) is a young boy survivor of an armed conflict who
is adopted by Amir’s
family. The presence of Amir as
his new “older brother” opened the path
to healing.
Unfortunately, another all-out
war against Moro rebels breaks out, and he is confronted with making a choice
between pursuing his dream or fighting in the war.
Director Carlo Obispo narrates
that armed conflicts ruin the basic necessities of life. Families are broken
apart, opportunities are lost. Dreams – especially those of the children, if
they even had the chance to have any – are shattered.
Children are always the most
vulnerable. The impact of war adversely affects the life trajectory of the
young ones. The film is made to take a
closer examination of the distressing battles children have to fight because of
the decisions that adults make.
The almost slice-of-life
story showed how the armed conflict
threatens to tear away the lives, hopes,
and dreams of the characters caught in
the crossfire.
GINHAWA tells
the journey of Anton (Andrew Ramsay) as
an aspiring boxer.
He hopes to continue the
legacy of his older brother Saul who was given a chance to escape poverty by
joining a competition in the city but later faced tragedy.
Against his mother’s (Ruby
Ruiz) wishes, Anton leaves their small
fishing town to pursue boxing in Manila where he unravels the ugly truth of the
brutal sport.
Director Christian Paolo Lat
narrates that Ginhawa is not only about
the fight in the ring that a boxer has to overcome but it is about what happens outside the ring – the system,
the politics, and the daily struggles of the poor in the Philippines.
Boxing is an escape and a
fight from the harsh realities of a third world country.
Lat notes that Ginhawa
presents the day to day struggle that these fighters go through in their
village, in their community and in their family who are constantly facing the
plague of poverty. Regardless of the deadly consequences, lack of government
funding and knowledge in general, these boxers continue to chase after their
dreams in the hopes of a better future.
Andrew Ramsay is the brother
of actor Derek Ramsay. He studied in New York Film Academy, John Lennon School
in UK, and Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.
I am not a fan of boxing but I
remember as a young boy my grandfather would bring me to boxing matches at the
Rizal coliseum. Instead of cheering for
the fighters, I would sleep most of the time. When I travel abroad, local
people would always mention the name of Manny Pacquiao whenever I tell them
that I am a Filipino.
RETIRADA tells
the story of Azon (Peewee O’Hara ) who experiences melancholia as she adjusts
to her life as a retired government employee. Azon becomes a regular Bingo player
hoping to duplicate her initial windfall. But her new sense of purpose and the
adrenaline rush from her new hobby would teach her what retirement really
means.
Directors spouses Milo
and Cynthia Paz said that Retirada explores life’s meaning
and purpose in the face of old age and death. It touched upon how retirees
struggled to live out their senior years after retiring from an active day to
day work life.
In a society where being young and active is
given more merit, growing old can lead to a sense of alienation and even
depression as one contemplates one’s own mortality.
The entries, often called
“indie films”, embody Cinemalaya’s
vision : “the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers“ works
that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh
insight and artistic integrity.”
It also aims to invigorate the
Philippine filmmaking by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers.
With the theme “Breaking
Through the Noise,” the other eight
competing full length films include Kaluskos, 12 Weeks,
Angkas, Bakit Di Mo Sabihin?,
Batsoy, Blue Room; Bula sa Langit, and
Kargo. The short film section
has twelve competing entries.
