Filipino indie film tops international festival

MANILA, Philippines - “Busong,” a critically acclaimed Filipino independent film on the vanishing Palawan tribe in the Philippines, won the grand prize in the National Geographic Society’s All Roads Film Festival in the United States.

“Busong” (Palawan Fate), directed by Aureus Solito, bested 25 other indigenous film entries from all over the world yesterday to win the Merata Mita Award named in honor of a noted Maori filmmaker, according to the Philippine embassy in Washington.

“It is an honor to receive the Merata Mita Award, which I dedicate to my mother and to my tribe, the Palawanon,” Solito said after receiving the award from All Roads Film Festival director Francine Blythe.

The awarding ceremony was held shortly before “Busong” was screened at the Grosvenor Auditorium at National Geographic’s headquarters on Thursday.

This year’s theme is “Vibrant Cultures from Around the World.” 

In addition to screenings, the festival, which runs from Sept. 27 to 30, also involves photography exhibits, live music, parties, and filmmaker discussions.

Solito said the film was based on stories his mother told him as a child about a young Palawanon’s search for a healer to cure his sister and the strangers who helped them along the way.

It is the first of a trilogy that focuses on the island-province of Palawan – where the director is from – the so-called last frontier of the Philippines. It is the first feature film coming from the Palawan community.

The Palawanon indigenous film is a mystical drama, where a determined young man carries his sister, unable to walk, on a fateful journey to see a healer. 

According to the embassy, “Busong,” which stars Filipina actress Alessandra de Rossi, was among 25 films that were chosen from more than 300 films considered for the All Roads Film Festival by the National Geographic.

The festival was launched in 2004 to provide a platform for indigenous and underrepresented minority-culture storytellers around the world to showcase their works to promote knowledge, dialogue, and understanding with a broader, global audience.

“Busong” premiered last year at the Cannes International Film Festival’s Directors Fortnight section and won Best Director, Best Sound Design, and Best Musical Score at Cinemalaya 2011’s Directors Showcase category.

It also received the International Federation of Film Critics International Critics Prize at the Eurasia International Film Festival in Almaty, Kazakhstan and the International Competition Tomorrow’s Cinema Award at the 38th Brussels International Independent Film Festival in Belgium.