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Monday, March 29, 2010

Documenting the Filipino

Source: Daily Inquirer



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FILMMAKER brothers Donatello (in blue shirt) and Fosco Dubini find the Philippines a rich country for documentarians. Photo courtesy of Jing Racelis, IFC



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INQUIRER EXCLUSIVE
Documenting the Filipino

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:01:00 03/28/2010

Filed Under: Entertainment (general)

The second phase of the ongoing worskhop, “Developing the New Filipino Documentary,” brought 12 local students and their two European teachers all over Metro Manila—from a sheltered campus in Loyola Heights to a shanty town in Tondo, from a ferry cruise along polluted Pasig River to a boat ride to the endangered mangroves near Coastal Road.

The teachers, filmmaker-brothers Fosco and Donatello Dubini, are first-time visitors to the country and are amazed by the “extreme highs and lows” of Philippine
society.

“We were supposed to guide the students through their field work, but we were so unfamiliar with the ‘field,’” said Donatello. “Europe is boring by comparison. Manila is a crazy, astonishing place. It’s interesting.”

Which is good news for documentarians.

“Filipino documentarians are closer to the truth...to reality,” Fosco noted. “It’s exciting to see how the students go straight to the heart of a social problem. They confront issues head-on.”

A documentarian should not shy away from presenting reality, warts and all, they asserted.

The Zurich-born Dubinis, currently based in Cologne, Germany, were particularly struck by a shanty community built inside an abandoned parking lot-edifice in Tondo.

“It was dark...like a scene from ‘Dante’s Inferno,’” Fosco said. “It was raining when we went, so there was water in the compound,” Donatello recalled. “In spite of the poverty, it was apparent that the residents are trying to make their lives better.”

“A remarkable story of survival,” Fosco said. “In the middle of the slums was a school,” Donatello related.

Another memorable trip for them was the mangroves shoot. “There was garbage everywhere. It’s like a broken paradise. It’s sad that in a society where money is a problem, environmental concerns take a back seat.”

Personal, political

The Dubinis are interested in the intersection between the personal and the political, Fosco explained, and this fascination is evident in their own docus which explored the “double lives” of Hollywood actresses Jean Seberg and Hedy Lamarr, and atom bomb scientists Ettore Majorana and Klaus Fuchs.

The documentarians’ visit to the country was made possible by the Goethe Institut Manila, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the College of Saint Benilde and the Philippine Independent Filmmakers Cooperative.

They described their 18-day stay and five-day shoot with the students as an “eye-opener” in many ways.

Fosco remarked that they also acquired insights about the country through interviews with gay activist Danton Remoto and indie filmmaker Lav Diaz. (Two of the students are making docus on Remoto and Diaz.)

“Now, I know more about Manila than Cologne,” Donatello jested. “The Philippines is a rich country for documentarians. There are a lot of untold stories...tales of life and death, hardships and hope for a better future.”

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