HOTSPOT
Tonyo Cruz
I leave it to critics, cineastes, artists and film lovers to give their knowledgeable reviews of the martial law period film “Katips.” It would also be only a matter of time for us to know how many trophies it would receive from other award-giving bodies, to add to its seven FAMAS trophies.
It is not known what Darryl Yap felt or how he reacted when Vince Tanada received the FAMAS best director and best picture honors for “Katips.” But in the run up to the opening of movie and even in the days and weeks later, Yap openly criticized and mocked “Katips” and its story.
The moment when Yap started to demand that Tanada release his film’s ticket receipts was the moment Yap lost and “Katips” won. Indeed, what is the meaning or importance of the ticket receipts and ticket sales? Why is it so important to Yap? Surely, his powerful executive producers and his more powerful political patrons could easily get those numbers.
Perhaps the objective was to humiliate Tanada and “Katips” for earning less than Yap’s movie at the box office. We cannot be sure.
What’s certain though is that Yap found it important to openly demand from Tanada the facts and evidence about the ticket sales of “Katips.” It is the precise moment Tanada triumphed over Yap, because that was the moment the pro-Marcos director wittingly or unwittingly admitted the importance of facts and evidence.
This whole episode is a learning moment not just for Yap.
For Tanada and his crew, as well as the other filmmakers and artists not blinded or coopted by the most powerful, they have an audience waiting to be their champions. This is also an audience demanding films that honor the traditions of Brocka and Bernal, but also perhaps to surpass them. This is also an audience that learned – or relearned –that art cannot be only for art’s sake or for the sake of glorifying traditional politicians. Art can and must be a weapon or medium for enlightenment, education, awareness-raising, affecting and reaching out to people, and telling their stories.
Just imagine, had there been no “Katips,” we wouldn’t have a strong, capable counterpoint to Yap’s. Criticizing a movie is one thing and yes, that’s important. But in this medium where there’s competition for the hearts and minds of the audience, there’s no substitute to having a movie to openly compete.
Yap had a hard time mocking “Katips” because it told the story of “ordinary” young people in the 1970s, and what they did in the time of the dictatorship. It did not tell the stories of the political icons that clashed with Yap’s principals head on. It did not portray the country being saved by a political icon from the hands of another political icon; “Katips” portrayed the stories of people who made history. In a country where the history of the past 50 years has been competing versions where the role of the people has been airbrushed in favor of traditional politicians, that’s a remarkable thing.
With schools reopening, I would not be surprised if there would be screenings of “Katips” in colleges and universities nationwide, perhaps together with films made by Brocka, Bernal and those who followed their lead. Organizations could invite surviving veterans of the resistance, especially artists, to speak.
We have a lot of real-life heroes whose life stories could inspire other movies. We hope filmmakers and producers would consider them. I’m sure there are a lot from the Ilocos and Davao. They could be a good start, if we wish to use films as a bridge for our people to cross what some claim to be a huge divide.
While we’re at it, we could also get to know the huge number of people working behind the scenes, the film and media workers, who perform essential roles but receive no meaningful social protection. There should be a better way of taking care of them, other than political patronage. We could also talk about the history and role of the board of censors, the cineplex owners who decide which films would be screened where and for how long, and what we could do to help make cinema.
As a movie-going and artista-loving nation, we recently rediscovered the “pinilakang tabing” an arena of struggle between truth and untruth, and also a mirror of the national situation. That’s a beautiful and important rediscovery.