ILOILO CITY – A short film on the Panay Bukidnon indigenous peoples won in the 46th Gawad Urian.

“Paglupad ka Banog” (The Flight of Banog) by director Elvert Bañares was awarded as Best Short Film in the annual awards given by film critic organization Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) on November 30.

INDIGENOUS people’s group Panay Bukidnon in Calinog town, Iloilo province poses with director Elvert Bañares with the Gawad Urian trophy for ‘Paglupad ka Banog’ (The Flight of Banog), the Best Short Film in the 46th Gawad Urian. (Lorenz Gaitan Lozada)

The short film depicts a portion of the “Hinilawod,” the pre-colonial oral literature of the Panay Bukidnon that is believed to be one of the world’s longest epics.

“This is a testament to the imaginative genius of our Indigenous Peoples – our Panay Bukidnon,” Bañares said.

The film specifically centers on an elderly father imparting to his youngest son how the protagonist Humadapnon was saved by the banog (Visayan hawk). This leads the Panay Bukidnon to celebrate the triumph of love and family with the binanog dance.

Panay Bukidnon had direct involvement in the film as the cast and crew were 95 percent from the indigenous peoples in Calinog town, Iloilo province.  It included cultural master Romulo Caballero and Jesus Catigan Insilada who wrote the screenplay.

During his acceptance speech, Bañares appealed for indigenous peoples not only in Panay Island but also the rest of the country.

“We hope to stop the displacement or relocation of our indigenous peoples – the ancestral lands belong to them. Their (ancestral) domains are sacred to them. We (should) respect and uphold that,” said Bañares.

“We hope that the quality education can be afforded to indigenous peoples and further education to those who have graduated. That understanding of indigenous knowledge should be part of our educational system. We cannot help our indigenous peoples if we have no understanding of them, their lives, or their culture,” added Bañares.

The Gawad Urian is another major award for Paglupad ka Banog.  

The film was one of the 11 recipients for cinema in the 15th Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) by National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) last February.

Paglupad ka Banog was also awarded as the Best Indigenous Language Film at the 13th Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival in Malaysia in 2022.

The film is supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT)-Western Visayas, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)-Western Visayas, Iloilo provincial government, Calinog municipal government, Lambunao municipal government, Iloilo City government, the Iloilo Festivals Foundation Inc., and Negros Cultural Foundation Inc.