Cine Kabundukan: Movies to the mountains
MOVIES REACHING OUT:
There’s an old saying that if Muhammad can’t go to the mountain, the mountain shall go to Muhammad.
Little wisp of a woman Karen Jane Salutan, 2019 recipient of a De La Salle University innovation award, turns the saying around. The 32year-old social entrepreneur believes that if natives from the mountains can’t have access to well-made Filipino films, the films will travel to the mountains.
Karen, who is also a filmmaker and events organizer, recently launched an advocacy called Cine Kabundukan, a program under Pinoy Indie Films Road Show. The project has been selected as the winner in Category 1 (Education, Gender and Inequality) at Animo Labs’ Green Archer Innovation Awards 2019.
The award came with a R10,000 cash reward.
Karen has a degree, BSBA major in Business Management, at De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (2011). She took Master of Arts in Media Studies major in Filmmaking, at the University of the Philippines.
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Pinoy Indie Films Road Show, designed and originated by Karen, is a new and unconventional platform to promote Filipino culture and arts through films, especially those that have social impact, that are made by small-time producers and filmmakers.
The project brings socially relevant films to schools, government offices
ACCESS TO GOOD FILMS:
and communities across the country, especially in remote areas, where locals do not have access to wellmade, independently-produced Filipino films.
Karen laments that most Filipino films are shown in Metro Manila and key cities around the country. Many are even acclaimed in international film festivals.
“Isn’t it strange that many of these socially relevant, awarded films, are easily seen abroad but are not available for viewing among rural Filipinos?” she wonders.
••• CINE KABUNDUKAN:
Cine Kabundukan aims to reach out to people in far-flung areas and share the values and powerful messages of these films.
Through Cine Kabundukan, Karen observes it is not impossible to bring socially relevant films up in the mountains. Last September-October, her team showed “Ang Guro Kong ’Di Marunong Magbasa” and “Ang Babae Sa Likod Ng Mambabatok” in Brgy. Pasil, Magsilay and Tabuk City, Kalinga before highly appreciative audiences.
Through the courtesy of sponsors, the two films were shown for free. On occasions when they have to charge admission fees, a ticket costs only R60, at times, only R20.
Cine Kabundukan also gave away school supplies, books, bags from Eton International School, beauty products from BeUtify, Gree-nelas slippers and bibles.
Children, students, teachers, and other barangay folk expressed gratefulness for having been given a chance to watch these types of films for the first time.
They were touched by the message of “Ang Guro Kong ’Di Marunong Magbasa” which promotes the value of education, hope and peace.
The film, by Perry Escaño, is about an illiterate farmer who teaches child warriors in Mindanao in a time of conflict.
The audience was also quite pleased to see their living treasure, their very own Apo Whang Od, in a movie.
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Karen can’t help but emphasize the obvious. Movies, she says, have the ability to shift our gaze, our understanding.
CRITICAL THINKING:
“If we want to make the younger generation reflect deeper, develop critical thinking, we must expose them to indie films that have the power to create a better nation.”
Cine Kabundukan’s next stop will be at Kiangan, Ifugao this month. Karen’s team, with Wenfred de Guzman, Mike John Jalaide Cuntapay, and Rodney Mendoza as members, is showing “Tanabata’s Wife.”
The film, by Charlson Ong, Lito Casaje, and Choy Pangilinan, tells the true story of an Igorot woman who marries a Japanese. They settle in the mountains and help uplift the local community.
Watching worthwhile films has its own effects on the audience, observes Karen, who at one point was mistaken for an NPA by the military in one of her rural sorties.
For instance, through Cine Kabundukan, students and teachers in Kalinga realize that they’re quite luckier than their counterparts in Mindanao.
Though remote, they have access to education and enjoy a peaceful community.
For people in these remote areas to be able to access
Filipino films, they have to travel more than two hours to get to Tuguegarao, where the mall nearest them is located.
The biggest downside is the high cost of a movie ticket.
Karen says socially relevant films can be eye-openers, an inspiration among people to take part in correcting wrongdoings in society.
“Good films can teach them to vote for the right people, to empower women and children to be morally upright and responsible Filipino citizens.”