By: Atty. Dennis Gorecho

Baseball, boxing, Bingo – games that start with the letter “B” became interesting plots of three competing full-length films for this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.

After a two-year wait as a result of the series of COVID-19  lockdowns, Cinemalaya finally returned as a face-to-face event with a full-length feature category for eleven films, including the “B” films: “THE BASEBALL PLAYER”, “GINHAWA” and “RETIRADA”.

THE BASEBALL PLAYER tells the story of Amir (Tommy Alejandrino) who is a 17-year-old Moro child with dreams of becoming a baseball player but has to train as a soldier for the Moro rebels.

Khalid (JM San Jose) is a young boy survivor of an armed conflict who is adopted by Amir’s family. The presence of Amir as his new “older brother” opened the path to healing.

Unfortunately, another all-out war against Moro rebels breaks out, and he is confronted with making a choice between pursuing his dream or fighting in the war.

Director Carlo Obispo narrates that armed conflicts ruin the basic necessities of life. Families are broken apart, opportunities are lost. Dreams – especially those of the children, if they even had the chance to have any – are shattered. 

Children are always the most vulnerable. The impact of war adversely affects the life trajectory of the young ones. The film is made to take a closer examination of the distressing battles children have to fight because of the decisions that adults make.

The almost slice-of-life story showed how the armed conflict threatens to tear away the lives, hopes, and dreams of the characters caught in the crossfire.

GINHAWA tells the journey of Anton (Andrew Ramsay) as an aspiring boxer.

He hopes to continue the legacy of his older brother Saul who was given a chance to escape poverty by joining a competition in the city but later faced tragedy.

Against his mother’s (Ruby Ruiz) wishes, Anton leaves their small fishing town to pursue boxing in Manila where he unravels the ugly truth of the brutal sport.

Director Christian Paolo Lat narrates that Ginhawa is not only about the fight in the ring that a boxer has to overcome but it is about what happens outside the ring – the system, the politics, and the daily struggles of the poor in the Philippines.

Boxing is an escape and a fight from the harsh realities of a third world country.

Lat notes that Ginhawa presents the day-to-day struggle that these fighters go through in their village, in their community and in their family who are constantly facing the plague of poverty. Regardless of the deadly consequences, lack of government funding and knowledge in general, these boxers continue to chase after their dreams in the hopes of a better future.

Andrew Ramsay is the brother of actor Derek Ramsay. He studied in New York Film Academy, John Lennon School in UK, and Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

I am not a fan of boxing but I remember as a young boy my grandfather would bring me to boxing matches at the Rizal coliseum. Instead of cheering for the fighters, I would sleep most of the time. When I travel abroad, local people would always mention the name of Manny Pacquiao whenever I tell them that I am a Filipino.

RETIRADA tells the story of Azon (Peewee O’Hara ) who experiences melancholia as she adjusts to her life as a retired government employee. Azon becomes a regular Bingo player hoping to duplicate her initial windfall. But her new sense of purpose and the adrenaline rush from her new hobby would teach her what retirement really means.

Directors spouses Milo and Cynthia Paz said that Retirada explores life’s meaning and purpose in the face of old age and death. It touched upon how retirees struggled to live out their senior years after retiring from an active day-to-day work life.

In a society where being young and active is given more merit, growing old can lead to a sense of alienation and even depression as one contemplates one’s own mortality.

The entries, often called “indie films”, embody Cinemalaya’s vision: “the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers“ works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.”

It also aims to invigorate the Philippine filmmaking industry by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers.

With the theme “Breaking Through the Noise,” the other eight competing full-length films include Kaluskos, 12 Weeks, Angkas, Bakit Di Mo Sabihin?, Batsoy, Blue Room; Bula sa Langit, and Kargo. The short film section has twelve  competing entries.

(Peyups is the moniker of University of the Philippines. Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 0917-5025808 or 0908-8665786.)

–