It has always been a delight to be working with our young. They are the ones who, despite the demands of their current jobs, would find a way to express what they are truly fascinated with. I have been a busy bee for the past days, until next week, as I have been working with young individuals whose desire is to project on the big screen the story of their people and place.
They have been merged in a big city for work in what could be regarded as a relatively fast way to employment—the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. But the call for artistic expression is like thunder and lightning that surfaces from time to time in the hearts and minds of these young people.
One of them is Fahad Monteverde Suba, the director and writer of my upcoming film, who has tried his luck in the metropolitan Cebu working in a BPO while at the same time pursuing his passion for media studies by taking graduate studies in a university. This is probably owing to his background as a segment producer and writer of ABS-CBN in Zamboanga City.
Titled “Mati” (Checkmate), it is a film that would poignantly touch the heart of every mother, father, young girl, and Filipino. It is fittingly described in its Facebook page as “A short film about an enmity between a deprived child and an adverse father. A fear that propels revenge to take back the forgotten childhood.” I play a role here of a witness to the struggles of the family, especially of the child. As the child battles with so many trials, I provide her the strength to regain what she should have—vivacity and innocence.
I always appreciate our young who have profound knowledge and understanding of the various issues that beset our country today. The film reflects the recent and compelling issues that an ordinary Filipino is very much affected or can truly relate with. The problem of domestic violence, drug addiction, child and women abuse, poverty—are all interspersed issues that we are faced with on a daily basis. We see them as we see ordinary people have experienced. And for our young people to tackle these sensitive issues mirrors the brand of this group, bolder and fiercer than their contemporaries.
I just hope that more young people would track the direction of giving life to the product of the society, and not of imagination. Because films like this mirrors the current situation of the society. We just need this kind of young who are not threatened whether concerned government agencies and institutions would regard them as critical of the blatant and copious shortcomings.
At least when the time of my generation is over, I am at peace with the idea that there are young yet determined artists who would continue the legacy of bringing art to the mainstream, and the unreached, for social transformation.