Zig Dulay is all over the Philippines. From Alaminos, Pangasinan to Puerto Princesa, Palawan, the 37-year-old Isabela native has been teaching young students in the regions about filmmaking.
Recently, he has been awarded by Tatler Magazine’s Gen T. Leaders of Tomorrow 2024. In the gap between his masterclasses at the Cinematheque Center Manila, we sat down with him to talk about his new projects and advocacies.
The television series, My Guardian Alien, with Marian Rivera had their last shooting day. Zig’s upcoming series, Widows’ War, starring Bea Alonzo and Carla Abellena, will premiere next month on GMA 7. “Parehong hindi ako yung dalawa—’yung isa fantasy, sci-fi, at ito naman, murder and mystery (Both genres aren’t associate with me—one is fantasy, sci-fi, and this current one, murder and mystery),” he says. “I want to try a different genre to challenge myself.”
Zig has nothing to prove with the success of Maria Clara at Ibarra. He also won the MMFF Best Picture award for Firefly.
Amid his busy shooting life, in between breaks, he makes it a point to make a personal project to keep him grounded. When the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) invited him to direct Dandansoy, a Hiligaynon lullaby for Himig Himbing: Mga Heleng Atin, a music video starring Perla Bautista, he was inspired to do a short film.
The short film is about a mother whose son becomes a desaparecido. A senior citizen, she is desperately looking for her son, who has disappeared without a trace. They will then be reunited in the virtual reality world.
Zig hopes to screen this at A-list film festivals abroad. “Gusto ko i-push kasi sayang ang pagkakataon na makapag-ambag ng narrative tungkol sa martial law (I wanted to seize this opportunity to contribute another narrative on martial law),” he muses.
The filmmaker plans to do a full-length feature too. “Pinaghahandaan ko siya, hindi minamadali (I’m preparing for this, no rush),” says the 2022 Cinemalaya Best Short film winner for Black Rainbow.
Even if he is tired from shooting or doing production work, Zig makes time to be with young students and filmmakers. “Masarap sa pakiramdam yun pag nakita ka nila, nagsalita ka sa kanila tungkol sa pagsasapelikula, nagse-serve ka na inspiration (It makes me feel good to be with them and talk to them about filmmaking, serving as an inspiration),” he says.
The director confesses that his TV network colleagues tells him: “Pagod na pagod ka na, Direk. Every other day ang shoot mo, then nagsisingit ka pa ng talk (You must be tired, Direk. You shoot every other day and you still want to go to the talks).” Zig always replies, “Totoo naman, pagod naman talaga ako at mapapagod din naman ako pag nagpunta ako doon—ang pinagkaiba lang, magiging masaya ako (It’s true, I’m really tired and going there will tire me more, but going there will make me happy).”
In 2015, when Bambanti (Scarecrow) won the award for Hilal Best Feature Film at the Ajyal Youth Film Festival in Qatar, Zig had a powerful insight from the Filipino overseas workers that changed his outlook toward making films.
The Filipino ushers in the theater came to him. They said to Zig: “Buti na lang Pinoy ang nanalo para malaman ng mga amo namin, malaman ng lahat ng tao dito na may iba tayong kayang gawin at magaling tayo dun (It’s a good thing that a Filipino won so that our bosses and the foreigners here would learn that we have other things to do and we excel at them).”
Zig seldom has writer’s block because of the massive research he does before sitting on the computer. “In Found Story, if I interviewed five Aetas to 100 Aetas, it’s impossible not to have a story,” he says.
Zig’s mentor was the late Armando “Bing” Lao, the brains behind the Found Story scriptwriting workshop. He credits all his successes to this mentor, the Kubrador screenwriter. “Ikaw ang nagturo sa akin kung paano maging tao at magpakatao sa loob at labas ng produksyon (You taught me how to be human, in and out of the production).” The Bagahe director writes, grieving on Facebook. “Binago mo ang buhay ko. Kung nasaan man ako ngayon, dahil ‘yun sa’yo (You changed my life. Whatever I achieved, it is because of you).”