Lav Diaz docu on typhoon Yolanda to have PH premiere

A scene from 'Mga Anak ng Unos' (Storm Children - Book 1).

As real-life horror stories go, very few can hold a candle to killer typhoon Yolanda (or Haiyan to the rest of the world).

One of the strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, it is also the most devastating Philippine typhoon in history leaving over 6,000 dead, over 28,000 people injured, over 1,000 more missing, and over P89 billion worth of damages to properties that left thousands of residents in hardest hit areas in Leyte and Samar homeless.

Now Lav Diaz, arguably the country’s most celebrated filmmaker of the last two years, has taken it upon himself to dramatically capture on digital film the startling aftermath of Yolanda’s wrath, as seen from the eyes of the children that survived the monster typhoon.

Aptly titled “Mga Anak ng Unos” (“Storm Children Book 1”), Diaz’s latest documentary comes on the heels of his consecutive international triumphs with “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan”, the country’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film of the 87th Annual Academy Awards scheduled for next year, and his Martial Law-inspired epic “Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon” that won the Pardo d’oro (Golden Leopard) grand prize at this year’s Locarno International Film Festival.

Like the latter film, “Mga Anak ng Unos” is shot in black and white. It had its world premiere last September 23 at the in the non-competition section of the DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in Korea.

Next month, from November 6 to 16 to be specific, the film will compete in the Main Competition of the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival where it is described in the festival’s official site as “a sublime, cinematic report from a devastating corner of reality.”

“There has always been a strong impulse towards non-fiction in Diaz’s comprehensive oeuvre. But in the almost dialogue-free ‘Storm Children – Book One’, one of the most uncompromising of contemporary filmmakers has gone all in. The fact that his characteristic, cinematic signature – the long and hypnotic scenes held in patiently observing black and white images – is present in every composition and every instant, underlines the urgency of his vision and its importance in international cinema over the past decade,” says the film’s description in its official site.

Even with all the usual “trademarks” that characterize his films, “Mga Anak ng Unos” has a running time of 143 minutes or two hours and 23 minutes, making it Diaz’s shortest feature-length film in years.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of Yolanda’s landfall, “Mga Anak ng Unos (Storm Children – Book One)” will have its Philippine premiere on November 4 at 7PM in Cinema 6 of Trinoma Mall in Quezon City.

The film screening is a fundraising effort of DAKILA – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism in partnership with the Embassy of Canada for the Climate Revolution campaign and the trust fund of the children featured in the film.

This special screening will also be featuring an exhibit of DAKILA’s ongoing Climate Walk, a 1,000-kilometer 40-day walk from Kilometer 0 Luneta to Ground Zero Tacloban in time for the anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda, participated by DAKILA’s core members Nityalila Saulo, AG Sano, Charley Sta. Maria, Christine Orias and Steph Tan and led by Philippine chief negotiator and representative to the UN Climate negotiations, Commissioner Yeb Sano of the Climate Change Commission.

Interested parties may reserve tickets for the film’s premiere priced at P250 until October 30. DAKILA can be reached at telephone numbers (+632) 4354309, (+63915) 1780240 or email address at activevista@dakila.org.ph. A reservation form may also be filled up at http://bit.ly/stormchildren-reserve.

Lav Diaz docu on typhoon Yolanda to have PH premiere

Source: InterAksyon.com (October 30, 2014 at 08:30AM)

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