ISKALAWAGS
77 min, Philippines, 2013
In Bisaya with English subtitles
Deligero & Co., Quiapost Production, BOMBA, C1Originals
Written by Keith Deligero, Gale Osorio, Remton Siega Zuasola
Directed by Keith Deligero
Stars Kerwin Otida, Reynaldo Formentera, Windel Otida, Johnreil Lunzaga, Joriel Lunzaga, Micko Maurillo, Mark Laurente Montalban and Jeric Raval
A coming-of-age tale of a group of seven young boys - the oldest is 14 - told as a first-person narrative by one of the kids, Intoy, now older and haunted by that one fateful night, Keith Deligero's ISKALAWAGS is a lovely yet painful recollection of youth in a small village in the Philippines, where behind the mischief, hints at sexual longing and restlessness of idle hours, is actually a wistful story of innocence lost.
Deligero has acutely crafted, what appears as a case of DIY filmmaking yet tightly woven film that may herald a type that characterizes a specific place; because geography informs aesthetics, its topography, its flora and its people's ways affect how a filmmaker creates and tells his/her story.
Deligero's work, I must say, possesses a sensibility that this viewer has earlier seen in the works of other filmmakers coming from the south, notably T.m. Malones's SALVI: ANG PAGPADAYON, Arnel Mardoquio's ANG PAGLALAKBAY NG MGA BITUIN SA GABING MADILIM and even Lav Diaz's epic works like FLORENTINA HUBALDO CTE: impressionist/painterly in its look, portentous, a sense of foreboding in its attitude, spontaneous and freewheeling in its delivery.
Deligero's ISKALAWAGS is definitely one of the highlights, a personal favorite, in this year's NEW FILIPINO CINEMA series at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts this year.
- o 0 o -
ISKALAWAGS was nominated for directing, writing and performances in 2013 Cinema One Originals festival.
- o 0 o -
XO (crossover appeal): ***
A+ (arthouse potential): ***
C> (cult film fav): **
H! (hometown prime): **
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Filmmaker Keith Deligero
What does Iskalawags refer to, is that a popular Bisaya term? And why
did you use it?
Iskalawag (scalawag) as a term, I think, is more Tagalog than Bisaya.
It is used in the film as a reference to the 1997 movie “Iskalawag: Batas Ay
Batas” starring Raymart Santiago. But of course Raymart is second only to Jeric Raval, the all-time idol of the kids in the story.
Do you remember playing basketball… everytime someone would shoot, he’d say “Jordan for three”
it’s something like that.. Palot and his friends loved the film Iskalawag so much they called
themselves the Ikalawags well Bulldog also loved Rambo
Is the film autobiographical? Or how did the project start?
“Iskalawags” is our story.
The film is a collection of stories while growing up in the barrio. It could be my autobiography as well as Erik’s, Remton’s, Gale’s and the rest of the crew. It is everyone’s autobiography except that we didn’t have treehouses when we were young (maybe erik tuban did)
The treehouse is a Tulang Diot thing in Camotes, many houses on the island have one on the side
The cast of young actors is impressive, how did you choose your actors?
I had my vision of the characters drawn and printed on flyers Then we went to Camotes Island and asked people around if they know any of the kids in our flyers…
It was like we were looking for missing children. It was at Cabong-an National High School where we found most of our cast.
The hardest to find was Jared. In a place where people mostly eat fish & vegetables a chubby kid is a rare sight.
During the production we rented a small house in the island… The kids and the very small crew ate fresh fish together and slept side-byside on banigs.
We only shot during the golden hours so we had a lot of siesta time. The crew and the cast would either be watching a film or playing chess… We were just hanging out, it never felt like we were making a film.. well almost.. for us :)
I assume Jeric Raval is the only professional actor in the cast and I am impressed by how you make references to him and his movies. Did he really make an impression on young people when he was at his prime, and how come? What was his reaction when you asked him to appear in the film, where the film seems to have paid homage to his works?
Small towns would always have Betamax houses that played a lot of action flicks, both local and Hollywood.
Jeric Raval was just one of those household names that we grew up with, along with Robin Padilla, Raymart Santiago, Fernando Poe Jr., Steven Segal, Silvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, etc.
During the shoot for the scenes with Jeric, people would flock to the location; some would shout “Bunso, Isinilang Kang Palaban” We are very grateful to Jeric Raval for lending us his time and joining in the fun.
Is it important for you to make the film in Bisaya? There is a growing
consensus about the rise of regional cinema; from your own perspective, is it
real? If so, what impact does it have on you as filmmaker, and on the regional
audiences? Does it have a good future?
Iskalawags is about stories in our little barrio and in our barrio we speak bisaya. I think it’s important that we get to watch films from every island in our country portrayed by the locals themselves.
Anybody from anywhere (in the world not just in the Philippines) can now make a film There are a lot of films being made, it’s going to be impossible to watch all of them and a lot of these films will challenge the way we traditionally watch films. I just wish more people would accept this challenge
and i wish people will not only make films but also watch films made by other people.
I’m not sure about a good future but it’s going to be wild ride.
Can you tell me how did you start as a filmmaker. Why did you choose to be one?
I studied Fine Arts (Advertising) in Cebu. In 2005, I went to manila as a drop out wanting to fulfill his big city dreams and become a commercial director. I got to work for a TV network as an editor then a producer before becoming a director.
In 2007 I went home to produce “Uwan Init Pista Sa Langit”. Remton and I consider it as our film school. Since then I’ve been going home everytime I make films I hope I can still become a commercial director… So I can easily fund my films in the future.
What are your plans, both immediate and in the long run?
Right now, I am developing my next film..
I’m still based in Manila, but I go home often to work on BINISAYA while
working freelance to pay the bills.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment