If you’re looking for a type of love story that is not your average hugot trope, then director Real S. Florido’s latest offering may just be the film for you.

As one of the 11 full-length feature films in competition for this year’s Cinemalaya Festival, ‘Bakit ‘Di Mo Sabihin’, starring Janine Gutierrez and JC de Vera tells the story of a deaf couple and how they tackle the challenges of marriage.

In an interview with the Manila Bulletin, Florido said that the movie was unique for being able to underscore the role of communication in a relationship, given that the lead characters are deaf.

“It is a film that tackles different theories on communication and how important it is in any relationship. Do we really need words to say what we want to talk about? Do we need spoken language to get our message across?  Why do we struggle with resolving our issues with our loved ones when we have all the means to have a simple conversation? These are just some of the questions that I try to answer in this film,” he said.

“We rarely see this kind of film that intends to show a facet of a world that exists within our world that we often times neglect to see. The film is an attempt to understand the world of the deaf and how we are not different from the things that they’re going through,” he added.

Florido credited lead stars Janine Gutierrez and JC de Vera for their commitment to the roles, which required them to learn Filipino Sign Language (FSL). As a matter of fact, the entire cast and crew underwent training and immersion to deliver an authentic story of people in the deaf community.

For the first time in Philippine cinema, the film will be delivered 80% in Filipino Sign Language. The deaf community will also be well represented as deaf actors were cast for important roles. Cinemalaya 2022 will run from August 5 to 14 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and will hold in person screenings after two years of presenting the event online