An Pasko ni Intoy/Intoy's Christmas

Excerpt from An Pasko ni Intoy/Intoy's Christmas

An Pasko ni Intoy/Intoy's Christmas is a 30-minute video documentary that portrays the bitter-sweet Christmas of a child-laborer in a remote, swampy community in Leyte. I directed/produced this video together with my classmate Em Hidalgo for our production thesis. It was awarded Best Thesis (Docu Category) in our batch. It has also won awards outside our school such as Best Short Film in the Student Catholic Mass Media Awards 2008, 2nd place Docu Category in the 20th Cultural Center of the Philippines Independent Film and Video Competition, and Best Documentary in the 10th Ateneo Video Open.

It was soo fun doing this film. We immersed in the community for almost a month during our Christmas break. We took hour long walks with the kids to their school. We had to learn to pee in makeshift toilets, walk on knee-deep mud, survive without electricity, ride a canoe, and fear about it getting capsized, us drowning and our all-borrowed equipment getting wet. We also had to take a 2-hour motor boat ride to the town proper and back every two days just to charge our camera's batteries.

But in exchange of these little sacrifices, we feasted over fresh seafood and had regular tuba-drinking session with the locals. The children also gave us free paddling-a-canoe tutorial (though we never learned). Here are the behind the scene photos:


R-L: Intoy, the docu's main subject, and his buddy Ian


My thesis partner Em


Em directing our camera man Rayg


Rayg shooting Intoy's brother Kim-kim carrying fronds of nipa palm


Inday. She is the only female kid in the community


And finally, that is me, marvelling at the place

I wish to thank these people who made significant contributions to the production of this film:
Ditsi Carolino for lending us her Sony TRV900, Senheisser boom mic, tripod, the financial aid, and for all the advicing; Ms. Ervina Espina for translating the film from Waray-waray to English; Kuya Benj for the free technical support; Rayg, for all the free services; Renei, Kets, Valen, Flau, Emae, Mich, and Trix for the moral and immoral support; and of course the locals of Sitio Palanas, Brgy. Butason, Tabango, Leyte.

Trailer of Tribu the Movie

This is the first "real" film I acted in. It is an entry to the 3rd Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. It won Best Film, Best Actors, and Best Sound. It was also awarded Best for the Future at the Paris Cinema Festival 2008.

I performed here as a prostitute in Tondo, a drug-addict policeman's whore and the mother of a 10-year old boy who is the film's main character. (I'm the second lady having sex in the trailer.) My involvement in this film was very accidental. The real actress who was supposed to perform my role backed out on the day of the shoot. My Film classmates/friends were helping in the production and the director, Jim Libiran, happened to be a classmate in a Film course. On that same day, these classmates called me and asked if I could "go naked on a film." The actress backed out and they needed a replacement very urgently -- as in, in that very moment -- because everything has been set-up.

Knowing how frustrating and disastrous a shooting can be when actors back out right on the shooting day (especially for low-budget films) and sensing the urgency in my classmates' voice -- they called me a dozen times -- I reluctantly said yes. Anyway, simply "going naked on a film" wasn't such a big deal, I was thinking.

They sent someone to pick me up and when we arrived at the location, everything was ready. There was a big crowd watching the shoot! And they were all just waiting for me. It made me feel soo nervous I could hardly breathe. Seconds later, somebody was already putting make-up on me, while another was telling me what to do, while another was making me choose which to wear, while another was orienting me on the film's story. All these happening as I was reading the script memorizing my lines. Yes I had lines! And I had a sex scene! Only then did I realize that the role I was going to play was a major part in the film. All along I was imagining myself only passing by naked before the camera once. Things happened in a snap, I never had time to back out nor courage to disappoint everyone again. What I worried about more was if I could perform the role well. My friends later told me they felt guilty for what they did.

Anyway, so the shooting pushed through. I think I pulled it off well enough. Well, I wouldn't really know but I got a good review from a favorite Film professor:) The second shoot though was a bit of a disaster. I couldn't act how ever I tried to. They even had to make me drink a bottle of Red Horse. I felt so sorry about it.

But everything proved a worthwhile experience.

So here's how they bill the film:

"Starring real life Tondo gang members.

SYNOPSIS: The dangerous unlit streets and labyrinthine alleyways in the ghetto district of Tondo in Manila, serves as a claustrophobic backdrop to a random killing that triggers a wild and bloody gang war.Through the eyes of a 10 year old boy, we are immersed into the normal, impoverished, tough life of Tondo. Through him, we encounter the juvenile yet murderous leaders and members of various gangsta tribes -- adolescent thugs and petty criminals whose past time is sex, drugs and their eloquently poetic street rap, delivered in their own unique tongue-twisting machine gun-style.

Also starring: Jamir Garcia (of Slapshock), Ira Marasigan, Malou Crisologo, Dice & Hi C (Mobbstarrs), Loonie & Ron (Stick Figgas), God's Will, Faye Martel, Vim Nadera, Teo Antonio, Rey Guevarra Javier, Charena Escala."